he had a regular summer let in the village of laredo near santander and every year he spent part of the long vacation on the coast of old castile , venturing inland to visit the cities of burgos , oviedo and len , or driving as far as navarre in order to participate in the san fermines of pamplona where , every day for a week , he would join the multitudes of younger men , fuelled with alcohol from the night before , as they made their early morning dash through the narrow , winding , cobbled streets of the old town , risking their lives in the insane and often lethal activity of running at full pelt in front of six fighting bulls weighing up to three quarters of a ton apiece .