Working hours up to seventeen hours, wages below EUR 5 per hour, late payments, bad sleep and food and drink conditions, occupational risks and accidents, non-contractual actions... These kinds of complaints have been repeated at the festivals organized by the company Last Tour, recently at the Azkena Rock Festival in Vitoria-Gasteiz, and earlier at the BBK Live in previous editions.

From this Thursday and until the end of the week, the macrofestibal BBK Live, which is held in Kobetamendi, will be held. In this context, the Bilbao Self-Defense Network has carried out an act of denunciation of "miserable working conditions" in the vicinity of Kobetamendi: The BBK Live EZ has been placed in the pastures of Bilbao. A few weeks earlier, the gaztetxe Etxarri II of Rekalde (Bilbao) had joined the protest at one of the BBK Live atrium festivals, which was held in the city, taking advantage of the fact that this initiative was organised in the neighborhood. "Faced with the macro-festivals of banks and big companies, we have a clear position: to develop a different leisure and defend the resources and spaces for it," said the members of the gaztetxe, according to Gedar. It has also been possible to see several paintings and banners in the Rekalde district.

The Self-Defense Network at Work convened a concentration at the EiTB headquarters in San Mamés, Bilbao, at 19:00 on Thursday.

The letter sent last week to ARGIA by the LAB trade union denounced the lack of working conditions in the company.

Guide to deplorable working conditions

The Self-Defense Network has developed a guide for people who work at the BBK Live, with the aim of remembering workers’ rights. It states, among other things, that the company must pay the costs associated with night work, provided that they are carried out between 22:00 and 06:00 hours; that the workers have the right to give up work if the company has not guaranteed them training, tools or safety equipment; that the maximum day is eight hours; that a rest period of 30 minutes must be guaranteed; and that if the company exceeds eight hours, the maximum day is eight hours.

As regards wages, the Guide points out that the inter-professional minimum wage in Spain should be considered as a measure, with a ratio of twelve pay per year of 1,323 euros, and that, with the festival in Bilbao, the company should apply the Bizkaia hospitality agreement and the state agreement of the sector in the Spanish State.

The Self-Defense Network has also called on the organisation to face possible breaches of working conditions. Two contact channels have been enabled: lanekoas.bilbo@gmail.com and telephone 624.478.671.

What is Last Tour

Last Tour is a company with an annual turnover of 100 million euros, which invoice in Bizkaia, and which counts with the collaboration of BBK Live, azkena Rock, BIME – which in addition to the editions in the Spanish State also organizes them abroad –, Santaspascuas, BilboRock, etc. In Bilbao it also has a restaurant, a room of a thousand square meters, the label Oso Ederra, an editorial called Liburuak... and other businesses it does under other names. It has recently entered the CEOE, the Spanish employers' association.

The Bilbain company, which owns it, only makes four drops in Euskera, and in many cases it is wrong. However, it does make the folklorization of the Basque. For example, at the opening ceremony of last year's BBK Live festival, an aizkolari was hired to destroy a vehicle. They put a few words in Basque, but they are the bait to attract tourism. It is no coincidence, and it is a public recognition by the City of Bilbao that the festival BBK Live has been organized around the sanfermines. This is a way to boost the pack or "experience" to attract tourists; not so long ago, some of the subscribers sold abroad, in addition to the BBK Live three-day festival, offered a surf course in Zarautz and a trip to San Fermín. In addition, according to the book Su Festak by Jon Urzelai, in some edition it was cheaper to buy the BBK Live subscription than to buy it in London in the Basque Country.

The business of BBK Live and Last Tour with other speculative companies is also evident. Idealist, one of the main motors of the housing market, placed his position in the last edition and so did the airline Vueling. It’s no coincidence: in the last edition, only one in four visitors to the BBK Live was from Álava, Bizkaia or Gipuzkoa.

However, at the end of last year’s BBK Live festival, the word that organizers highlighted in the press release was sustainability: "Ours is a reference festival in commitment to the environment, bringing music together with the awareness of the environment." They gave four reasons to emphasize that they were sustainable. One: 3,000 people went on foot to Kobetamendi. Two: In the festival a painting or similar painting was placed to "raise awareness". Three: around the tabside, green tarpaulins had been placed that looked like leaves. And four: It was said that EUR 3 per entry would be used to repair the fires in and around Balmaseda – to give an idea: the three-day payment was EUR 200.

BBK Live, Last Tour and, in general, the wild models of the macrofestivities. A year ago we gave him the cover and we offered him a report in ARGIA, in number 2,835.