1. Candice Dodd
April 2, 2014
ENG 382
Spain Destination Story
It’s a bit hard to envision dark red buildings with white window frames surrounded
by black shutters joined by another building, beige colored with rectangle windows
above carved, long archways. This is the scene I examine closely as I step foot into
the quiet, yet vibrant city of Pamplona.
The buildings merged in unison as I walk closer to them in the Plaza del Castillo.
They surround me, like open arms as a child embraces the warm hug from their
parents. I spin around slowly, engaging, staring at the buildings intently and
observing how all buildings are almost the same in height, but each one is unique in
color and detail. There is history in each of these buildings, a story that one can dig
in history books of Spain’s greatest constructions.
Ernest Hemingway made his mark here: American author traveled through various
countries, writing stories of his encounters and establishinh a love affair with a city
that was not famous until he arrived. Pamplona was a place he called home. He
journeyed there nine times and visited Pamplona’s annual San Fermín festival, the
city’s fiesta of bullfighting, food, wine and songs. His first novel, The Sun Also Rises,
published in 1926 was based on his experiences in Pamplona, and it was this work
that transformed this event into one of the most famous tourist destinations in the
world.

2. “This is where Ernest Hemingway dined with the bullfighters,” said Evan Tingey, a
classmate I traveled with to this quaint city. We both look into the restaurant,
walking closer to the magnificent dark brown wooden doors and glass panels
aligned on all sides. I noticed the large red no-smoking sign, PROHIBIDO FUMAR, it
says in capitalized letters in Spanish. The elegant scrolling design engulfs the
perimeters of the doors and the name of the restaurant dressed in dusty gold letters,
Café Iruña, placed above the door.
We walk in the restaurant greeted by a lovely hola! from a friendly waitress
attending to her duties behind the glass panel bar. I notice the peaceful atmosphere
and only three people sitting down eating their meal. They speak so quietly,
listening intently, exchanging conversation in a calm, relaxed way, so much different
from noisy American culture.
I stand at the bar and quickly order a pinxtos, a mini sandwich combined with fried
ham and cheese eggs. I also order a glass of red wine, a traditional drink in Spain
served with every meal. I bite into my pinxtos and took a sip of red wine, which ran
through my body quickly leaving a warm, burning sensation in my chest. It was
delicious. I quickly took another bite and a sip of wine while listening to Evan talk
about the history of Café Iruña and Ernest Hemingway’s significant importance to
Pamplona’s historical culture.
As we head out of the café we make our way towards Plaza de Toros, Plaza of the
bulls, where Pamplona holds its San Fermín festival of the running of the bulls in
July. Before I walk closer to the bullring, I gaze at Ernest Hemingway’s statue in

3. front of me, almost a foot away from the ring. His massive sculpture, built in stone
with his head poached on top. His head covered in stone slowly peeling and fading
into a green-brown color while the details of his face still remain strong. His eyes
look up into the sky, his powerful expression saying: “This is where I belong.”
And so he does. He has made such a profound impact and gave this city life and
adventure. Tourists can live through Hemingway’s story as all the characters in his
novel dine at Café Iruña; attend the bullfights and step foot into the territory where
Hemingway made his mark.
After staring at his statue intently and taking countless photographs of it, I now look
at the enormous bullring from behind. It’s inviting, tan-colored archways joined by a
big, scarlet red gate in the front waiting for a bull to come through. The stadium-
sized ring elongates around the perimeter of the city with red doors labeled, Puerta
A, Puerta B in chronological order of the alphabet. Pictures of the bullfight are
carved in stone on the walls decorating the ring while pictures of black bulls are
placed next to the sign Grada Seccion 7-8. “This is awesome,” I say out loud as Evan
and I take a step back and gaze at this remarkable creation.
I can only dream of attending a festival such as San Fermín where thousands of
people from all over the world come to celebrate this tradition. Pamplona, such a
quiet, reserved town with open sidewalks and streets it is hard to imagine the
commotion, massive large crowds that block every alley, door and window in the
square.

4. “This event brings a lot of revenue,” says Maria Guiterrez, a woman who works at
the Information desk in the city. “Many people from all over come here to see this
event. It’s huge. It’s televised on national television bringing in reporters and news
crews from across the country,” she said with a smile.
The Running of the Bulls, also known as The Encierro, is the heart of the festival and
makes the fiesta an event that no one can forget, with people running with the bulls
in the narrow streets, wearing white attire with red handkerchiefs tied around their
necks. They’re often looking behind them, so as to not get trampled by the three-ton
bull. Hemingway also ran with the bulls, and even fought with the bulls himself.
As I walk to the middle of the square of Plaza de Toros, I come across a magnificent
statue showing a scene of the running of the bulls. A cast bronzed iron sculpture of
six men running in unison and others trampled over the bulls. Each individual all
had a different look on his face; one scared, one excited and another in anguish. The
bulls all huddle together with their pointed horns targeting at their victim. As I look
closer into the sculpture I notice a name engraved in one of the runner’s of what
looks like rolled up paper, it says Rafeal Huerta 1991, the man behind the sculpture.
Before leaving Pamplona, I took one last glance around the square, completely in
awe of my surroundings thinking about everything I knew of the city. I gained so
much insight, walked in the shoes of Hemingway while dining at the café he once
dined with the bullfighters. Experiencing Pamplona was a rewarding experience, as I
visited a city with history, action and where it drives thousands of people for a
festival marked by a Nobel prize-winning author. “This was amazing,” I say to Evan

5. as we both walk away from the plaza as I turn my head and glance one last time at
Pamplona’s masterpieces.