Thousands dodged the horns of half-tonne fighting bulls this morning on the streets of Pamplona as Spain's best known fiesta begun today.
There were no gorings in a short run lasting just over two minutes, but two people were taken to hospital after suffering bruises on their head and back.
People from all over the world take part in the San Fermin festival - made famous by Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises- joining Spanish runners mostly dressed in traditional white with red neckerchiefs and sashes.
Each morning over a week in July, six bulls are set loose on a 825-metre course through the cobbled streets of the northern Spanish city where thrill seekers run with the half-tonne animals to the bull ring.
Animal rights groups complain the San Fermin is cruel to animals, and hundreds of protesters, many wearing just thongs and plastic bull horns, marched through Pamplona on Tuesday in a bid to halt the centuries-old tradition.