San Fermín Beyond Hemingway

2026 marks the centenary of Ernest Hemingway’s novel ‘The Sun also Rises’, which brought Pamplona’s San Fermín festival international fame. Yet beyond its place in Hemingway’s iconic novel and the yearly international news reports of tourists injured or even dying in the running of the bulls, the fiestas of San Fermín has also served as a symbolic battleground in Navarre's unresolved identity conflict. As the capital of Navarre, Pamplona sits at the intersection of two competing national projects: Basque nationalists regard the region as an inseparable part of the historic Basque homeland, while Navarrese regionalists and Spanish unionists insist on Navarre's distinct political identity and institutions. Every July, those rival visions spill into the festival through disputes over flags, language, official ceremonies and the public symbolism of the encierro. Today on Sobremesa Podcast we look to go beyond the cliches and instagram posts generated around Sanfermin and look at its deeper cultural, historical and political significance. To do so, I am joined once again by Tulane University’s Brittany Kennedy - an expert in Basque culture. If you like what we are producing and want to keep the podcast sustainable, please consider donating to our buy me a coffee page. The link is the show notes. Okay, I hope you enjoy my interview with Brittany.