Australian Govt Warns Tourists Over Pamplona

 

The Australian government is warning it's countrymen against running with the bulls in Pamplona this year.

The annual San Fermin Festival in Pamplona is a major fiesta which attracts interest not only in Spain, but throughout the rest of the world, and gained popularity through Ernest Hemmingway's novels : 'The Sun also rises' and also 'Death in the afternoon'.

The event takes place between the 6th and 14th of July in the Basque Town in Northern Spain, where hundreds or runners take part in the Fiesta, and thousands more spectators pack the narrow streets.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is reminding tourists the event is dangerous : "Each year some participants are seriously injured and there have been numerous deaths associated with the event," DFAT said in a travel bulletin issued on it's website earlier today.

"If you decide to participate, you should weigh up the risks of doing so, and understand the consequences if you are injured... your travel insurance may not cover you if you participate in high risk activities, such as running with the bulls or jumping off fountains."

There have been a total of 15 recorded fatalities at the Fiesta since 1910. Interestingly enough, 16 swimmers have been killed in unpovoked shark attacks in Australia since 1926.

As yet the Spanish Foreign office have not issued a similar statement warning Spanish tourists against swimming when on holiday in Australia.