The Ampuero bull run is Cantabria's oldest bullfighting festival, held without interruption since 1941 in this village in the Asón valley. In 2026 the opening rocket kicks off the Virgen Niña festivities on September 4, with a bull run every midday on the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th, ending with the closing bullfight on the main day.
Every first weekend of September, Ampuero stops being the quiet village of the Asón valley and turns, for four days, into the stage for one of Cantabria's most intense festivals. The streets fill with peñas and music, and the air smells of gunpowder from the opening rocket.
It isn't Pamplona, and that's part of its appeal: an out-and-back route that barely exists in any other bull run in Spain, narrow streets where bull and runner cross paths twice in the same stretch, and a village atmosphere where everyone knows everyone. The tradition hasn't skipped a single year since 1941.
For anyone spending the summer on the Trasmiera coast, it's an easy day trip: less than half an hour's drive separates Bareyo from a festival declared of National Tourist Interest.
Nearly a century of tradition: the history of the Ampuero bull run
The specific origin of the Ampuero bull run dates back to 1941, when a flood of the Asón and Vallino rivers submerged the pens of the La Nogalera bullring and forced the cattle to be released into the village streets to save them. Not a single edition has been missed since, although records of bullfighting festivities in Ampuero go back as far as the 16th century.
For decades there was only one run, on the main day, September 8. A second day was added in 1969 and a third in 1981, leading to today's format of several days of runs. In 2019, Spain's Secretary of State for Tourism recognised the Ampuero bull run as a Festival of National Tourist Interest, a distinction shared by very few celebrations in Cantabria.
Ampuero bull run 2026 programme: opening rocket, bullfights and the Torch Procession
The Virgen Niña festivities kick off on Friday, September 4, 2026, with the opening rocket fired from the Town Hall balcony. The main days are the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th, with a bull run every midday: the herd sets off after three rockets are fired, crosses the Puente Grande and Calle José Antonio to the Hostal La Pinta, and returns along the same route. It's the out-and-back course, a feature that lets you run it twice in the same race.
The afternoons have their own line-up, with a bull-dodging contest, a young-bull fight with picadors and, on the main day, a rejoneo bullfight on horseback. On the eve of September 8, the Torch Procession winds through the village at night: the Virgen Niña is carried through the streets accompanied by hundreds of torches, one of the most solemn moments of the festival. The Ampuero Town Hall publishes the final programme, with breeders and exact times, weeks before it starts.
How to watch the Ampuero bull run safely
If you're not running, the place to watch the bull run is behind the wooden fencing that protects the route — never climb onto it or stand inside the fenced-off street. Get there with time to spare: half an hour before noon, the best spots by the Puente Grande are already taken. The balconies of the houses along the route, which their owners often rent out on those days, are another classic way to watch from above and without risk.
Anyone who does want to run should know the route beforehand, never run under the influence of alcohol, and wear footwear with a good grip on the cobblestones, which are often wet from being hosed down beforehand. The organisers reinforce the fencing every year with refuge boxes along the street.
How to get to Ampuero from Bareyo
Ampuero is about 29 km from Bareyo, between 25 and 30 minutes by car, inland via the CA-268 and the N-634 down into the Asón valley. It's an inland route, without the usual coastal traffic jams of weekends in August and early September.
Parking gets tight in the village centre during the bull-run days: the most practical option is to leave the car some way from Plaza de La Nogalera and walk in, especially if you arrive after eleven in the morning.
What you need to know
2026 dates: opening rocket on Friday, September 4; bull runs at midday on the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th. Torch Procession: the night of September 7, the eve of the main day. Location: the route starts and finishes at the La Nogalera bullring, in the centre of Ampuero. Watching the bull run from the street is free; tickets for the young-bull fight, the bull-dodging contest and the rejoneo bullfight can be checked and bought in advance at Servitoro. Safety: always stay behind the fencing and follow the instructions of Civil Protection and the local police throughout the morning.
The bull run that goes there and back, the festival that hasn't missed a year since 1941.
Watching a bull run up close, even just once, stays with you: the tension of the closed-off street, the shout when the herd goes past, the calm that returns all at once as the last gate shuts. It's a morning's plan that leaves the whole afternoon free to head back to the coast and end the day with your feet in the water.
If you like the region's festival calendar, don't miss our guide to the calendar of popular festivals in Cantabria, with the dates you shouldn't miss month by month. It's exactly this kind of nearby plan, with no queues or bookings, that we have in mind for Bareyo Residences guests: Villa Camino and Villa Monte, each with a private pool and garden, will be available from September 2027.
