There are two basic ways to attend the fiesta in
Pamplona. 

The first, and by far most popular, is to do what tens of
thousands of others have done over the years; make your own arrangements.   Papa Hemingway did so when he
first visited the city to attend the fiesta, but there is one small problem
with this method, which is the same now as it was then, unless you are familiar
with the city and surrounding area, it is often difficult to decide where to
stay.  You don’t want to be too far
out because of the difficulty of getting into the Old City for the fiesta.  Besides a shortage of available rooms,
affordable rooms are often difficult to find, even outside of the city
center.  All of the hotels,
hotel-apartments and hostels raise their rates 3 to 5 times the normal rate
during the fiesta.  Most hotels
begin charging this festival rate on the 5th of July, but a few begin charging
their festival rate as early as the 4th. 
Another problem in trying to make your own arrangements is that although
a few hotels will accept early bookings, the majority of hotels in the city
center do not set their official festival rates until the end of the year and
generally will not accept reservations before then unless you are a regular
client of the hotel.  Response time
can also be very slow in some cases.

As you may already be aware, many of the Spanish visitors
to the fiesta either stay with friends or family.  Younger visitors from around Spain usually end up sleeping
on the ground in one of the city’s parks, while most of the younger foreign
visitors, many of whom arrive with backpacks, either end up sleeping on the
ground along with thousands of others, or, if they are lucky, find an opening
at one of the campgrounds in the Navarran countryside, some of which are “far
from the madding crowds”.”

The second, though not quite as popular but undoubtedly
the best way for a foreign visitor to experience this unique fiesta, is to book
with a professional travel company or tour group providing a full array of
services, someone who is actively involved in the fiesta and has a good
relationship with the hotels they work with.  You can make the arrangements through your local travel
agent, one who has the right connections, or directly with a company that
specializes in the fiesta and offers the services that we here at Iberian Traveler - Maribel’s Guides provide; a
special hotel package at a select hotel in the city, reservations on one of our
balconies for the encierro, the running of the bulls, additional festival
programs that can add to your enjoyment and experience, restaurant
recommendations and other personalized services to make your stay as fulfilling
and interesting as possible.  We
feel that it’s one thing to attend the fiesta on your own or with family and
friends, but actually becoming involved in and being a part of the fiesta is
something only a specialist can provide.

Of course there is a third way of attending the
fiesta.  If you know someone who
has been there before they might be able to introduce you to some aspects of
the fiesta.  If you know someone
like this, they are usually very enthusiastic, but may not have experienced
those parts of the fiesta that actually make it unique and one of the most
popular festivals in Europe.  But
that’s not to say that you still can’t have a good time and go home with great
memories.

Many of us who now do this for a living started out this
way, building on our experiences over the years, forming relationships and
close friendships, as the fiesta became part of our lives.  In turn, we try to provide the best
possible experience for all of our clients, some of whom have become our
friends, returning as often as possible to enjoy the fiesta with us and the
people of Pamplona, who welcome everyone to their city.

A little more about the city and the fiesta

The city of Pamplona goes all out for the fiesta, one of
the largest in Spain, providing everything free of charge except for bullfight
tickets.  There are music concerts
everyday beginning on the 6th of July with a mix of regional and international
musicians, who this year included the Gypsy Kings and our friend and noted
Basque musician, Kepa Junkera.  The
fiesta includes traditional Basque sports, a major international fireworks
competition with displays nightly, special days set aside for children and
seniors and a separate children’s festival, the magic of the historic Gigantes
and Cabezudos (giants and big heads), the kilikis and zaldikos and the
traditional Procession of San Fermin, where the people pay homage to one of
city’s two patron saints. 

The fiesta attracts ten of thousands of visitors from
throughout Spain and around the world. 
The numbers have grown substantially since the early 90’s, but until
recently all of the hotels, hotel-apartments and hostals in the city were
primarily serving the needs of those visiting the Clínica Universitaria de
Navarra (Navarre University Hospital), one of Spain’s premier hospital
facilities and medical universities.

With only about 1300 hotel rooms located within the city
center, i.e. easy walking distance of the Casa Viejo, the Old City and the
center of the fiesta, and an equal number of rooms further out, from 4 and 10
km distance from the city center, Pamplona is unable to easily accommodate such
a huge daily influx of visitors to the fiesta seeking hotel rooms or restaurant
reservations.  If you are
interested in attending the fiesta, you have to plan as far in advance as
possible.  Of the total number of
hotel rooms in the city center, less than half are ever available during the
fiesta because of the returning clientele.  Some families have been staying at the same hotel for
generations and their rooms are always held aside for them.

Most of the hotels located within the city center are
either 3 or 4-star, but there are a few 2-star hotels.  There is one 5-star hotel, the GH La
Perla of Hemingway fame, and a couple of new premium hotels scheduled to open
soon; one boutique-style luxury hotel in the Casa Viejo and an all-suites
luxury hotel early next summer, possibly in time for the fiesta.  Two additional boutique hotels are due
to open sometime in the near future, one associated with the Tour de France
legend Miguel Indurain, who lives in Pamplona with his family, but no one seems
to know exactly when they will open, but when they finally do, they are only
expected to add an additional handful of rooms to the total.   It’s not much when you consider
that the city receives an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 visitors a day during the
week and up to 200,000 over the weekend, doubling its population.

If you are planning on staying outside of the city
center, you will have to rely on public transportation or taxis to get you to
and from the hotel as parking in the city can be a problem anytime of the year,
let alone during the fiesta.  And
this is after the city has added hundreds of underground parking places the
last few years.  The city has been
allowing free parking in the blue zones during the fiesta, but these spaces are
limited as the cars parked there seldom move. 

Travel between Pamplona and the closest cities or
villages is difficult if you have to rely on public transportation.  The earliest buses from San
Sebastian-Donostia, the closest major city, do not arrive in the Pamplona until
after the encierro, meaning that you would have to plan on arriving the night
before and spend the night on the street or sleeping in the park if you want to
be there in time for the running of the bulls.

If you were to drive, you would have to leave Donostia
very early in the morning in order to be in Pamplona in time for that morning’s
encierro.  It’s only a one-hour
drive but it may take you awhile to find a place to park, and nearly impossible
on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, or on the 6th or 7th.

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