Bullfights in Euskal Herria have been reduced in recent decades. However, parties with bulls are still deeply entrenched in some places. In Navarre, for example. The Sanfermines in Pamplona are organised around the murder of bulls and bullfighting is organised in many villages. However, changes can be observed.

An example of this is the rock La Bota de Estella (Navarra). From now on they will not attend the bulls. That was agreed after the internal vote. The decision was a matter of time, as the situation did not leave any other way. Caesar Etxeberria is the president of the rock and, as he said, in recent years the subject has been discussed and a decision has been taken at the end: ‘The main reason is that fewer and fewer people are going.’

First symptom: every year they hire a charanga for parties and one of the musicians' functions was to go to bullfights. Turns were organized to accompany the txaranga and each year it became harder for them to find volunteers to go to the bullfight. The second symptom is the sale of tickets for bullfights. They used to sell a bonus for the whole week in the rock, but nobody bought it anymore, so they stopped selling.

“In addition, we saw that in Estella there are fewer and fewer people going to bullfights; the plaza is becoming more and more empty. It has no interest. Therefore, we have decided not to go there and look for alternatives,” explained Etxeberria. This year, at the time of the bulls, there will be handrails, from bar to bar. “Yes, that’s attractive. When we go out with music, people come behind." Still, for the time being, they will go to the enclosures, with txaranga and everything.

In Estella there are three days of bullfighting and another two days other bullfighting shows are organized. The latter no longer participated in La Bota. On Tuesday they went to the ball game, ‘for a long time’, and last year they did not go to the calf on Wednesday: “In front of our headquarters we laid a water slide and there we stayed with the txaranga.” Etxeberria says there are fewer and fewer bullfighting shows and fewer and fewer people. “The exception is Monday, because here the horse bullfighter Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza plays, but in that too less and less.” There is another information to be taken into account: In the festivities of the young people of Estella no bullfighting show has been requested in the last 11 years.

Peña is not considered to be against bullfights, even though some of its members are. Anti-bulls in particular have put the issue on the table so far. Every year the issue was in the Assemblies, but normally it was late, and the decision has been delayed.

Debate on the peñas

Estella's can bring succession. La peña La Bota is over a hundred years old, so it is not a negligible decision. Etxeberria has said that, in addition, a debate is taking place in the peñas of other localities. The general change will not occur immediately.

Txaro Buñuel, spokesman for Iruña Antitaurino, believes that the debate is spreading in Pamplona/Iruña. In his view, more and more people in the area are opposed to bullfighting. Buñuel has underlined the importance of the decision of the rock La bota, which shows a way. ‘Institutions, parties, economic operators and society think that we should look to the future or turn our backs on the reality that is coming. The city must address this debate and look for alternatives to bullfighting.” In this sense, he believes that the wedges should be “a basic agent” and “a push”.

Meanwhile, little news in the peñas. They sell the gravel tickets left in the sun. According to Buñuel's data, not all bonds are sold anymore, and some peñas sell less bonds. The House of Mercy, in charge of the management of the bullring, has also admitted that the square is no longer covered. According to official data, bulls in Hego Euskal Herria were halved between 2007 and 2016. Between 2013 and 2018, however, the downward trend has stagnated. Last year, 20 shows were held in Navarre, of which 45 were selected.

According to Buñuel, it is also necessary to take into account age: "Many young people do not go to bullfights or do not enter the pineapples for this reason." This is not the case of the comrades of the rock Iñigo San Martín and Mikel Mugeta, who have been warned. They are from the Sanfermin rock and do not go to the bullring for ‘principles’ and ‘ethics’. “Holding a party around a murder is not ethical,” said San Martin.

They're not too optimistic about what you see in the rock. In fact, they say that young people also go to bullfights and buy a bonus for all sanfermines. “Every year the seats are filled, and not only with the adult people,” said San Martin. “The plaza is covered for the time being, although the demand will probably be lower than it was twenty years ago,” adds Mugeta.

They say that the members of the rock may be against bullfights, that ideas and the membership card are not incompatible. “We are pensioners all year round, not just in sanfermines,” San Martin explained. ‘Even in Sanfermin we do more.’ However, they feel "sorry" for knowing that their rock goes to the bulls. “Especially for those who don’t like bullfighting but come to them. There are a lot of people who go for the environment that is created there,” Mugeta said.

Other melody

In the bullring there are not only the peñas. In many villages, the municipal band is in charge of playing in bullfights. This is the case of Pamplona and Tafalla. But not everyone agrees. Two musicians from the band Pamplona do not enter the plaza, as they are opposed to bullfights. In Tafalla there are also those who turn around the bullring. Sometimes, in addition, to join the anti-taurine protest. Another crack. However, these musicians have chosen not to speak in public about their attitude.

The number of people attending bullfighting is gradually decreasing, but anti-bullfighting young girls in the peñas believe that ‘solid’ alternatives are missing. On the contrary, in his rock they say that the subject is the subject of debate, ‘without any taboo’. They also say that the Federation is working on this. And there are alternatives, more and more. The Herri Sanferminak platform organises activities – one more year – for bullfighting. They're not the only ones. Pamplona Antitaurino has called a kalejira for 7 July, starting at 19:00. The objective is that the debate that is in the hands of different agents of society should be spread in the plaza.