Pamplona (EFE).- The city of Pamplona is still immersed in the final preparations for the 2023 San Fermín festivities, which will begin when at twelve o’clock on July 6 a representative of Osasuna, predictably its president, Luis Sabalza, launch the chupinazo announcing the parties.
Everything is almost ready in Pamplona for the festivities that will take place from July 6 to 14, with a program of 542 official events, including musical events (50 concerts, 33 festivals and 146 parades).
This year artists very present in the charts such as Ana Mena, Dani Fernández, Ana Torroja or Fangoria will perform in Pamplona, music in Basque with ETS, the rap of Lágrimas de Sangre or the trap of Funzo &Baby Loud.
Osasuna will be in charge of launching the chupinazo of the 2023 Sanfermines after a historic season with the final of the Copa del Rey, qualifying for the Conference League -although UEFA has dampened the rojilla joy with its intention of excluding the club of the competition- and the celebration in 2020 of the centenary of the club.
“We are going to launch the chupinazo of the best parties in the world,” Osasuna assured on social networks.
The Bull Fair and the fireworks, essential
The placement of the enclosure fence is also advancing at a good pace. In total there are 900 poles, 2,700 planks and 2,500 wooden wedges that the Aldaz brothers carpentry will be installing until July 6 between the Corrales del Gas and the bullring. There are also some 70 gates of various sizes that serve both to evacuate the fence and to close the route.
The House of Mercy in Pamplona has also closed the poster for the Sanfermines Bull Fair, in which only the right-handed Peruvian Andrés Roca Rey repeats. The 63rd edition of the Fair has a budget of 4.4 million euros, of which 60% goes to matadors and 40% to livestock.
Another of the characteristic elements of the Pamplona festivities is its International Fireworks Competition, which this year has brought together nine designers, three of them from abroad: Ciels en Fête, from France; Fireworks Ugo Lieto Events, from Italy; and Pyrogenie Feuerwerk GmbH, from Germany.
There are also three Valencian companies: Mediterranean Fireworks, Tamarit Pyrotechnics and Valencian Pyrotechnics. To them is added a company from Castellón, Pirotecnia Zarzoso; one from the Canary Islands, Pirotecnia San Miguel; and another from A Coruña, Pirotecnia Penide.
Good hotel prospects
For its part, the Pamplona Hotel Association has confirmed an “excellent” occupancy forecast for all the holidays. The entity (made up of 26 hotels located in the center and region of Pamplona that add up to 1,800 rooms with 3,000 beds) forecasts an occupancy forecast of 90% on July 6 and 7, with an average of 83.75% from July 6 to 9, which will drop to 73% from July 10 to 14.
Renfe has also organized a special arrangement for the holidays and has put up for sale more than 130,000 seats to travel to Pamplona. Thus, the railway company has reinforced with 48,430 additional seats the trains entering and leaving Pamplona between July 5 and 16.
The mayoress of Pamplona, Cristina Ibarrola, will experience her first Sanfermines in office after being elected the city’s first mayor on June 17. “San Fermín is street, it is music, it is tradition, enjoyment and a lot of emotion”, she has affirmed.
These are values that have encouraged the citizens of Pamplona to transport visitors to a world “increasingly predictable, which is why the Sanfermines stand out for the opposite: improvisation, flexibility, uncertainty and creativity. Therein lies its beauty and special identity.”