On Thursday begins the Azkena Rock macrofestival in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Araba). Like every year, for three days, about 50,000 people will meet at this great event. This year’s edition has also been organized by the company Last Tour, subcontracted by the City Hall of Vitoria-Gasteiz. At the beginning of the festival, the Vitoria-Gasteiz Self-Defense Network has denounced the miserable working conditions that Azkena Rock wage workers must endure.

He explained that Last Tour is a company that hosts multiple international macro-festivals, such as Azkena Rock, BBK Live, Madrid Live, BIME, South Pyrenees, etc. It costs more than EUR 100 million a year "at the expense of the miserable working conditions of workers who have often been reported".

At these festivals there are about 10,000 salaried workers at the disposal of Last Tour. Among the conditions imposed on them, the SAT of Vitoria-Gasteiz has highlighted working hours up to seventeen hours, wages that do not reach EUR 5 per hour, delays in payments, unfortunate conditions for sleeping and eating, occupational risks and accidents, uncontracted practices, etc.

City Hall of Vitoria-Gasteiz, accomplice

Criminal companies like Last Tour are given direct support from public institutions, hiring them, among other things. This is the case of the City Hall of Vitoria-Gasteiz, which has paid 380,000 euros this time to Last Tour, in addition to giving "space and all kinds of facilities". Therefore, LASA has pointed out the responsibility of both the company and the city council, understanding that the latter "finances and legitimizes the precariousness of the workers".

"Initiatives like [Azkena Rock] argue that they are a wealth for the city, but we know well who the beneficiaries will be and which ones will be affected," he adds.

Wealth and misery

LAS members accuse Azkena Rock of being "Last Tour, its subcontractors and the city's hotel and restaurant owners." "The workers of the Festival, on the other hand, are obliged to accept the conditions imposed on us, if we want to be hired again," they report.

In addition, they warn that the hospitality workers will also be "harmed", as "they will have to bear a much greater workload and all kinds of abuses". "The result is clear: entrepreneurs get rich and the working class will be disciplined," they conclude.

They call operators to "deal with the abuses they may suffer during the festival" and organize with LAS.

Testimonials

The LAS of Vitoria-Gasteiz has gathered testimonies from several workers who have worked at the Azkena Rock Macrofestival to make known the working conditions of misery they have suffered. Here you can read some of these testimonies.