The Philadelphia Peña and Taurino Club
Our Guide to the Festival of San Fermìn, Pamplona
The Apartado
The apartado is the second (2d) of the three (3) bull related events (encierro, apartado, and corrida). Near the bullring (beginning at about 10:30 a.m.), you can purchase tickets to the sorteo and apartado from scalpers. You can expect to pay less than 10€. It starts at 1300, but you'll want to get inside around 11:30 a.m. or noon.
The entrance is to the left of the statue of Ernest Hemingway statue, around the side of the plaza, closest to Estafeta. Once inside the castle gates, you get to experience the inner workings of the bullring. Inside is where the horses are kept, and the veterinarian’s office.
Dignitaries and other pseudo important types mingle with representatives of the ring, the bull ranches, and the matadors. There’s food.
Up the steps, you look down on the maze of rectangle walls, pens, each separated by a system of locks and pulleys. You can see the bulls and cabestros relaxing under some trees, or maybe eating at the manger. We always try to see if we can identify any of the morning's bulls from the earlier run, and pretend we actually can. “See the way his horn turns? That’s the one that almost got me on Mercaderes.” “I remember that white spot. It went right past my face.”
Look around for the representatives of the matador teams who will be fighting that afternoon. They are usually talking with the ranch representatives, and weighing up which bulls will be better for their matador. As a group, they agree on appropriate pairings of the bulls, and then draw lots to see which pairs are assigned to which matador. This is the “sorteo.”
This is key, as a “bad” bull can make the best matador look scared...or even foolish. In short, the representatives are looking for bulls that show the appropriate level of aggression, and who will exhibit the instincts that make a corrida possible.
Nearing noon, stake out a front row in front of any of the smaller pens, for the “apartado.” By using the pulleys and locks, a cabestro is used to separate the bulls, and move each into their individual “chiqueros,” which are under the seats of the bullring. This gives you the opportunity to see each bull up close, and to decide yourself which will be a good bull or not. Each bull disappears, the chiquero door closes, and each toro is readying for its later fate. It’s a great chance for photos, and video, and it’s among our favorite events of la fiesta.
The entrance is to the left of the statue of Ernest Hemingway statue, around the side of the plaza, closest to Estafeta. Once inside the castle gates, you get to experience the inner workings of the bullring. Inside is where the horses are kept, and the veterinarian’s office.
Dignitaries and other pseudo important types mingle with representatives of the ring, the bull ranches, and the matadors. There’s food.
Up the steps, you look down on the maze of rectangle walls, pens, each separated by a system of locks and pulleys. You can see the bulls and cabestros relaxing under some trees, or maybe eating at the manger. We always try to see if we can identify any of the morning's bulls from the earlier run, and pretend we actually can. “See the way his horn turns? That’s the one that almost got me on Mercaderes.” “I remember that white spot. It went right past my face.”
Look around for the representatives of the matador teams who will be fighting that afternoon. They are usually talking with the ranch representatives, and weighing up which bulls will be better for their matador. As a group, they agree on appropriate pairings of the bulls, and then draw lots to see which pairs are assigned to which matador. This is the “sorteo.”
This is key, as a “bad” bull can make the best matador look scared...or even foolish. In short, the representatives are looking for bulls that show the appropriate level of aggression, and who will exhibit the instincts that make a corrida possible.
Nearing noon, stake out a front row in front of any of the smaller pens, for the “apartado.” By using the pulleys and locks, a cabestro is used to separate the bulls, and move each into their individual “chiqueros,” which are under the seats of the bullring. This gives you the opportunity to see each bull up close, and to decide yourself which will be a good bull or not. Each bull disappears, the chiquero door closes, and each toro is readying for its later fate. It’s a great chance for photos, and video, and it’s among our favorite events of la fiesta.
Where they, uh, "clean" the bulls.
Cabestros waiting their turn.
Bull following "his friend," the cabestro.
Give me two bucks on the big one to place.