When walking the streets of Pamplona on a summer’s day, feeling the sun gently burning your skin and the quietude of a countryside town, one can’t imagine that every year the same streets fill with people running from angry bulls that were set free to run through a determined route. The city is then transformed, with thousands of people coming from all over the world, cheering those who are brave enough to run in front of the enraged bulls. Some get injured, a few may die, but all are full of adrenaline and exhilarate everyone around them.

When a young American journalist, stationed in Paris as a European correspondent, arrived in this city, he got immediately and forever hooked. Ernest Hemingway was so impressed with it that he included it in his book “The Sun Also Rises”, turning the running of the bulls, the main event of the Fiesta de San Fermín, into a world attraction. Pamplona reciprocated his love and it still takes pride in Hemingway’s admiration for the city. Yes, because Hemingway didn’t just enjoy the bullfighting, he enjoyed the food and the people.

Another foreigner, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey the Great, passed through this terrain a very long time ago during military campaigns on behalf of the Roman Empire. He thought there was a good place to settle the troops and, in a not very original way, he gave his name to the place he was founding (well, sort of). Over the years, the town evolved, became Christian and turned into the capital of the Kingdom of Navarra. The Fiesta de San Fermín took shape in Medieval Times to honour a Christian Saint and now is part of the city as much as the buildings that were constructed throughout the centuries.

After many battles and wars, Navarra became a Spanish region in the 16th century and, although not completely independent, it enjoys autonomy. Yet, walking through Pamplona, its capital, you could be foul into thinking that they are in fact independent. Navarra’s flag is hung everywhere and you can feel proud of being from Navarra, rather than being Spanish. However, contrary to Catalonia, people in Navarra seem to enjoy their status and they don’t wish to change it any time soon.

Bordering France in the Pyrenees, there is an immense French influence in its core. It also borders the current Basque country region and it is influenced by the Basque culture too, especially in the north. Although there are many Basque people living there, and they are considered to be part of the greater cultural Basque region, people from Navarra like to keep themselves apart. The fact they were once a powerful kingdom may have something to do with it.

In a nutshell, Pamplona is a quiet countryside town with a violent past, a unique cultural mixture, and a lively tradition.