Man Creates Cancelled Pamplona Bull-Run With Playmobil

A Spanish architect has recreated the famous Pamplona ‘Running of the Bulls’ with toy Playmobil pieces after the event was cancelled for the first time in 20 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The world-famous ‘Encierro’ (Running of the Bulls) event usually takes place during the San Fermin festival in the city of Pamplona in the northern Spanish province of Navarre between 6th and 14th July.

However, the San Fermin Festival was cancelled this summer for the first time in 20 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To mark this year’s cancelled festival, Pablo Lopez Alvarez, 32, has recreated the Running of the Bulls event with Playmobil pieces in fine detail.

Credit: Newsflash/Pablo Lopez Alonso

Pablo, originally from the city of Valladolid, told Newsflash that he has been attending the San Fermin Festival since he was a boy.

Another passion for Pablo as a youngster was building things with Playmobil.

Four years ago, Pablo said that he found his old Playmobil collection in his mum’s loft and has not stopped building scenes since.

Some of his creations include a Nativity scene and depictions of the Egyptian, Roman, and Medieval periods in history.

Pablo told Newsflash that his scenes usually take between 15 and 20 hours to assemble.

Credit: Newsflash/Pablo Lopez Alonso
Nativity scene

The technical architect was cut from his job in May due to the COVID-19 crisis and to keep himself busy he decided to make a short video of the San Fermin Festival made from Playmobil.

Pablo said: “People familiar with the festival will recognise they are real places, real streets and the same camera shots used in the broadcast.

“I wanted to recreate it in as much detail as possible as I know every inch of the route.

“It took me 12 days to film it, one day for every section of street.”

Pablo added that he filmed it alone, however a pal supplied some personalised items to the scene including a bullring that he made with a 3D printer.

The video even includes one of the bull runners being taken into an ambulance after a supposed accident.

Credit: Newsflash/Pablo Lopez Alonso
Wild west scene

The finished result earned the technical architect praise from netizens and even the mayor of Pamplona who sent Pablo a letter of thanks.

The last time the San Fermin Festival was cancelled was for bad weather conditions in 1999, and heavy rain led to the bullfighting event being halted for a day in 2019.

The festival was also cancelled following the kidnapping and murder of the councillor Miguel Angel Blanco by the separatist group ETA in 1997.

The festival was previously cancelled in 1937 and 1938 during the Spanish Civil War and again in 1978 after a student was shot during clashes between police and protesters calling for an independent Basque region.

This year’s San Fermin Festival has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Amanda MoralesSub-Editor: Alex Cope, Agency: Newsflash

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