Smart glasses have just collided head-on with the San Fermín running of the bulls. It is the new legal outrage of the most guarded confinement. The legal key is in the Pamplona running of the bulls ordinance: prohibits carrying cameras, mobile phones or “any image or sound recording medium” within the route and reserved fences. Article 4.11 of the Municipal Enclosure Ordinance makes it very clear. Unless expressly authorized, if you do so, you expose yourself to sanctions ranging from minor (601 euros) to very serious (6,000 euros).
The video, shared by TikTok and accumulating almost 20,000 views, it shows that adrenaline-inducing moment of jumping and warming up before running in front of the halters. In first person, the video partly boasts about being able to record it and skip the lockdown ordinance. Since they are not carried in the hand, the glasses are considered a recording device that can distract, hinder the race and compromise the safety of runners and third parties.
Before Meta there was GoPro. Is it worth recording the running of the bulls rather than running it? The suggestive idea of using glasses has collided head-on with arrest. Tracking the user’s account, the Municipal Police of Navarra did not take long to identify the foreign runner wearing the Ray-Ban Meta. It was during the second running of the bulls of San Fermín 2026.
It is neither the first time nor will it be the last. During the last years there are some other runner who chose to carry a camera knowing that he is “strictly prohibited“The Foral Police confiscated it. And although there are people covering the LED of this type of viewers to record without anyone noticing, that does not mean that it is legal: the Spanish Penal Code considers it a crime that, if by recording, it violates the “privacy of the other”, with prison sentences of one to four years and a fine of twelve to twenty-four months”
Smart glasses and the law. Whether it is a cell phone, a GoPro or a drone, even if the support is more discreet and “modern”, recording is prohibited. The problem is that we come across a certain legal loophole because in Spain there is no specific law that says “Ray-Ban Meta is prohibited” in the abstract. What applies is the regulations of the event and, where applicable, data protection and security regulations if third parties are recruited without a legal basis. In a lockdown, the key is not so much technology as context.
Jurisprudence or legal debate usually follows two paths: public security and image treatment. In a massive and sometimes dangerous event like San Fermín, the first weighs more, because the City Council considers that recording from within can cause tripping, divert attention or even put other runners at risk; The second, privacy, appears as a reinforcement if third-party images are later disseminated without consent.
Four centuries before the bull. Ironically, the running of the bulls began as a tolerated infraction, and later became the regulated festival that every Pamplona resident knows: in the 16th century the young men began to run in front of the bulls, in 1776 the fence was established and in 1867 Pamplona formally regulated it by ordinance. Then came the starting rockets, the second rocket in 1927 and, already in the 20th century, the assistance protocols and professionalization with health devices, a safety manual and the entire police liturgy.
The rules also provide that “anyone who litters the road and public spaces will be punished” and, unfortunately, it is not difficult to find glasses, even glass, along the route. In fact, you cannot stay on the tour if you are drunk or under the influence of drugs, but tourists usually ignore these rules and “a fine always falls on someone who is clueless.”
With or without consent. Even worse are the cases of recordings of girls without your consent. An example is found in the penalty of 10,000 euros from the AEPD for recording a person in the street without permission and disseminating the video on networks, as in relation to the April Fair. Organic Law 1/1982, which regulates the fundamental right to honor, privacy and one’s own image, is clear about this type of illegitimate interference.
At least, and with the second running of the Sanfermines in 2026 over, everything is functioning with ritual normality: short and very fast running of the bulls and with a controlled injury toll—just two injured per pole—, while the city continues to shield the race with more surveillance, more preventive messages and more awareness than ever about risky behavior.
Images | Flickr (Paul Mison, Antonio Sánchez Serrano)
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