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WORLD NEWS Saturday 7 July 2018

Feminists, animal rights groups reshape Pamplona bull fest

By ARITZ PARRA they are usually killed in
The Associated Press televised bullfights during
PAMPLONA, Spain (AP) — eight consecutive after-
The topics of sexual abuse noons.
and animal cruelty are Owners of private balco-
dominating this year's San nies overlooking the ac-
Fermin festival in Pamplo- tion charge spectators 140
na, which kicks off Friday for euros ($164) per person to
nine days and eight nights view the bulls and the run-
of round-the-clock alcohol- ners careening down the
soaked partying, traditional town's ancient streets.
celebrations and danger- "Once you open that door,
ous bull runs. there is no way back to
It's not a full-blown identity save the running of the bulls
crisis yet, but the festival in without having them sac-
northern Spain popularized rificed in the bullring," said
by American novelist Ernest Juan Cuesta, a 55-year-old
Hemingway and seen by Pamplona resident who
critics as a macho proving looked on Thursday as over
ground with a violent streak 100 animal rights activists
is slowly adapting to the so- protested the festival.
cial awareness brought by "I respect their opinion, but
a new generation. this is a wider debate that
Sexual assaults reported Demonstrators protest against bullfighting in front of the City Hall a day before of the famous San doesn't need to come from
during the festival went Fermin festival, in Pamplona, northern Spain, Thursday, July 5, 2018. politicians, but rather from
from two in 2008 — the year Associated Press society," Cuesta added.
a local woman was mur- "Right now, I don't see the
dered after she refused to marked a tipping point that locations. next spring, has also raised majority of people in Pam-
have sex with her killer — to galvanized Spain's own But for some activists, the eyebrows ahead of this plona ready to give up on
20 in 2016, when five men #MeToo movement. measures are not enough. year's festival by question- the DNA of San Fermin."
cornered an 18-year old, Outrage fueled protests in Naia Mira, 22, was among ing the future of bullfights, a The annual pro-animal
filmed themselves sexually the streets after a provin- hundreds of women, most tradition at the core of the rights protest on the eve
attacking her and left af- cial court cleared the five in their twenties, marching festival. of the festival used to go
ter stealing her phone. The men of rape charges and in Pamplona on Wednes- "I don't envision a San Fer- largely snubbed in Pamplo-
figures, from a study by the sentenced them to nine day night, holding banners min festival without the bull na, but activists said more
Public University of Navarra, years behind bars on a less- denouncing what they call runs, but I do see them hap- locals, especially younger
rose to 22 last year amid er charge of sexual abuse. a patriarchy that perme- pening one day without people, have joined their
growing public outrage. The government launched ates all levels of life in Spain. the corridas (bullfights)," he campaigns in recent years
"I don't want my city to be a revision of the punish- "Fear needs to change said. as partial bans on bullfight-
known as a place for ram- ments for sexual crimes, sides," said Mira, adding Those remarks prompted ing spread over dozens of
pant sexual abuse or the but when the men were that distrust in the judicial angry bull breeders to an- Spanish towns.
torture of animals," said released on bail last month system is pushing some swer that, without the bull Since the Spanish constitu-
Jana Uriz, 32, a local ani- pending a decision on feminists to push for more fights, Asiron could forget tion protects corridas as
mal-rights activist among their appeal, angry crowds self-defense. about the bull runs. The Toro part of the nation's cultural
those demanding a "sexu- again hit the streets. The city's left-wing mayor, de Lidia foundation, which heritage, new regulations
al-abuse free" festival. Authorities in Pamplona re- Joseba Asiron, says that groups bull-related busi- usually aim at turning them
Authorities have been able sponded by improving their "Pamplona is leading the nesses and aficionados, into blood-free shows,
to identify suspects in near- handling of victims, step- push against sexual ag- claimed the industry injects banning any torment to
ly 95 percent of the cases in ping up police surveillance gression," as officials reas- 74 million euros ($86.5 mil- the bull. They also forbid
Pamplona, where the 2016 and training and launching sure visitors that the festival lion) into the city's coffers the consumption of alco-
"Wolfpack case" — named 24-hour hotlines and a new is safe for both women and each year. hol and access for minors,
after the WhatsApp group mobile app that allows the men to enjoy. Six bulls complete the 930- while imposing anti-doping
the perpetrators used to instant reporting of abuse, But Asiron, a 56-year-old yard (850-meter) course to checks for animals and
share their abuse videos — including victims' real-time historian whose term ends Pamplona's bullring, where matadors.q