Pamplona draws thousands of revelers for the San Fermín bull-running festival

PAMPLONA, Spain (AP) — Tens of thousands of revelers packed the main square in Pamplona’s, northern Spain, on Sunday to celebrate the traditional “chupinazo” firework blast that marks the start of the San Fermín bull-running festival.

Nearly everyone, including the throngs of foreign tourists who come to the event, was dressed in the traditional garb of white trousers and shirt with red sash and neckerchief.

They sang. They shouted. And they drank alcohol with abandon.

As the rocket that starts the official party was fired off, many doused each other with red or sparkling wine.

The highlight of the controversial nine-day festival is the early morning “encierros,” or bull runs, starting on Monday, when thousands of brave or foolhardy souls sprint to avoid six bulls charging along a winding cobblestoned route to the city’s bullring.

While gorings are not rare, many more people suffer contusions from falls as spectators watch from balconies and wooden barricades set up along the course. The spectacle is televised nationally.

The rest of each day is for eating, drinking, dancing and cultural entertainment, including bull fights where the animals that run in the morning are slain by professional matadors each afternoon.

The festival was made internationally famous by Ernest Hemingway ’s classic 1926 novel “ The Sun Also Rises ” about American bohemians wasting away in Europe.

Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain.

Revellers start celebrating early as they wait for the launch of the 'Chupinazo' rocket, marking the official opening of the 2025 San Fermín festival, nine days of non-stop partying during Pamplona's famed running of the bulls, in Pamplona, Spain, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

A reveler plays with a ball during the start of nine days of uninterrupted partying in Pamplona's famed running-of-the-bulls festival in Pamplona, Spain, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

A reveller celebrates early as she waits for the launch of the 'Chupinazo' rocket, marking the official opening of the 2025 San Fermín festival, a nine-day stretch of non-stop partying during Pamplona's famed running of the bulls, in Pamplona, Spain, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Revelers drink from leather wine sacks as they pack the main square during the official start of nine days of uninterrupted partying in Pamplona's famed running-of-the-bulls festival in Pamplona, Spain, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

A reveler drinks wine as he takes part in the official start of nine days of uninterrupted partying in Pamplona's famed running-of-the-bulls festival in Pamplona, Spain, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Revelers pack the main square during the start of nine days of uninterrupted partying in Pamplona's famed running-of-the-bulls festival in Pamplona, Spain, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Russia’s traditional parade marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II will take place next week without tanks, missiles and other military equipment, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

It will be the first time in nearly two decades — and in Russia’s 4-year-old war in Ukraine — that no military equipment will rumble through Moscow’s Red Square on May 9, the day Russia celebrates its most important secular holiday. The Kremlin has used it to showcase its military might and global clout, and it is a source of patriotic pride.

Victory Day parades on Red Square have involved military equipment and various weaponry every year since 2008. Smaller parades are held elsewhere across the country, including in cities like St. Petersburg.

The ministry cited the “current operational situation” as a reason for excluding military equipment, as well as cadets, from this year’s parade on the 81st anniversary of the victory. Ukraine has launched drone attacks deep inside Russia to counter Moscow’s more than 4-year-old invasion.

While the ministry did not elaborate, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday blamed Ukraine, accusing it of “terrorist activity,” in an apparent reference to the drone strikes. In recent months, attacks have reached locations deep inside Russia, like the Baltic port of Ust-Luga to the north of Moscow, the Samara region near the border with Kazakhstan, and the Perm region in the Ural mountains.

“All measures are being taken to minimize the danger,” he told reporters.

The parade will feature “servicemen from higher military educational institutions of all kinds and certain service branches of the Russian Armed Forces” and a traditional military aircraft flyover, the ministry said.

World War II remains a rare point of consensus in the nation’s divisive history under Communist rule, and the Kremlin has leveraged that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia’s position as a global power.

The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in what it calls the Great Patriotic War in 1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche.

President Vladimir Putin, who has ruled Russia for over 25 years, has turned Victory Day into a key pillar of his tenure and has tried to use it to justify the war in Ukraine.

“Traditionally, the parade of tanks, missile systems and other military hardware across Red Square has been central to these celebrations, providing powerful optics and reinforcing Russia’s image as the heir to Soviet victory in World War II," said Natia Seskuria, associate fellow with the Royal United Services Institute.

"Removing this important element weakens the propaganda value of the event, particularly for domestic audiences, as it reduces one of the most visible symbols of Russian power and military prestige,” she told The Associated Press.

Security concerns are the most likely explanation, Seskuria said.

But there also could be practical military considerations, "including the need to preserve equipment, avoid highlighting battlefield losses, and reduce the exposure of valuable military assets,” she said,

"This decision signals a degree of vulnerability rather than strength, because even last year, Russia demonstrated a range of new tanks and drones in front of invited world leaders,” Seskuria added.

Last year’s parade on the 80th anniversary was the largest since Russia sent troops into Ukraine, and drew the most global leaders to Moscow in a decade, including high-profile guests like Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Fico will attend this year, too, along with other foreign dignitaries, Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said Wednesday.

It featured over 11,500 troops and more than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, armored infantry vehicles and artillery used on the battlefield in Ukraine, as well as huge Yars nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles as well as drones carried on military trucks. Fighter jets flew over Red Square, too.

Putin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting May 7, 2025, and authorities blocked cellphone internet in Moscow for several days to avert Ukrainian drone attacks.

In 2023, the parade was scaled down, with fewer troops and military equipment on display and no flyover.

In the Soviet era, the first Red Square parade marking the defeat of Nazi Germany took place on June 24, 1945. Then it was held on May 9 several times after that, with the last Soviet-era parade taking place in 1990.

After the USSR collapsed, the parades resumed in 1995. That year, troops and veterans marched through Red Square, and a separate parade of military equipment took place at the sprawling Poklonnaya Gora World War II memorial. After that, parades were held every year. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities moved the parade to a later date, and it was held on June 24.

Troops attend a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade at the Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Troops attend a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade at the Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Navy cadets march during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade at the Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Troops march during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade at the Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Troops attend a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade at the Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)