Castile

A former kingdom, Castile (Spanish: Castilla; usually pronounced Cast-EEL in English), gradually merged with its neighbors to become the Kingdom of Spain. In modern-day Spain, it comprises the regions of Castilla y León in the north-west, and Castilla-La Mancha in the center of the country. Modern Spanish monarchs are numbered according to the system of Castile.

Castile's name means land or region of castles, in reference to the castles built in the area to consolidate the Christian re-conquest from the Moors.

Running of the Bulls

The Running of the Bulls (in Spanish, el encierro - literally, "the enclosing" or also la pamplonada after the town). It involves running in front of bulls that have been let loose on a course of a sectioned-off subset of a town's streets. The most famous running of the bulls is that of the nine-day festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, although they are held in towns and villages across Spain during the fiesta season, usually in the run-up to the corrida, or bull-fight, and in some cities in southern France, most notably Bayonne. Unlike bull fights, which are performed by professionals, anyone may participate in an encierro, and there is never violence towards the bulls — even tail-pulling is frowned upon. Injuries are common, both to the participants who may be gored or trampled, and to the bulls, whose hooves grip poorly on the paved or cobbled street surfaces.

Kingdom of Pamplona

The Kingdom of Navarre (Basque: Nafarroako Erresuma) was a European state which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean. Navarre, through some points of its history, very roughly corresponded with the territories occupied by the Basque people.

Though the details are largely legendary, the Kingdom of Pamplona, later renamed as Navarre, evolved from the county of Pamplona, its traditional capital, when the Basque leader Enneco Aresta (Basque: Eneko Haritza, Spanish: Iñigo Arista or Aiza) was chosen King in Pamplona (traditionally in 824) and led a local revolt against the Franks.

The southern part of the kingdom was absorbed by the Kingdom of Castile in 1513, and thus became part of the unified Kingdom of Spain. The northern part of the kingdom remained independent, but it was joined with France in a personal union in 1589 when King Henry III of Navarre inherited the French throne as Henry IV of France, and in 1620 it was merged into the Kingdom of France.

About Pamplona

Pamplona (Basque: Iruñea or Iruña) is the capital city of Navarre, Spain. It has a population of 195,769, and is 92 kilometres from the town of San Sebastian, and 407 kilometres northeast of Madrid. From the 9th century up to the 12th century, Navarrese country was known as the Kingdom of Pamplona. Iruñea is the Basque name proposed by the Royal Academy of the Basque Language, but the Basque name recognized by the Government of Navarre is Iruña, "the city".

For Basque nationalism, Pamplona is the historical capital of the Basque Country (Euskal Herria in Basque).

The historical center of Pamplona is on the right bank of the Arga, a tributary of the Ebro. The city is famous for the San Fermín festival, on July 7, in which the The running of the bulls or encierro is one of the main attractions. Ernest Hemingway made this local fiesta of Pamplona world-famous in The Sun Also Rises (1926). He was honored by having a street in the city named after him, Avenida de Hemingway. Three-quarters of Pamplona's city walls remain as they were rebuilt in the sixteenth century. Pamplona is also the first Spanish city on the French Way of the Way of St. James to Santiago. Every year thousands of pilgrims of all nationalities cross the city in a walk that will finish 30 days and more than 800 Km. later.

The area south of Pamplona is warm, dry, arid and very similar to the landscape found in parts of Castile. Northwards, however, it is cool and dry and very similar to the landscape of Aquitaine's forest. The city itself is very green: together with the old section of the city, which hosts the San Fermín festival, with its cobbled streets, it is a pleasant tourist destination.