The organization of the Local Sanfermines held a press conference on Wednesday in Plaza O de Pamplona, at 11:00. Through the appearance they announce the suspension of the program of Fiestas de San Fermín this year, as well as the refusal to place the txosna. Reason: Conditions imposed by the City of Pamplona.
They denounce that the City Hall wants to return the Festivities of San Fermín to the city center. In fact, since 2016 and for four years they have celebrated their festivities in the center of the city, but this year they have only given them the opportunity to go to the area of Errotazar, to the park of La Runa. "The City of Pamplona has thrown us out of the Casco Viejo," they say.
They denounce a series of attitudes of the City of Enrique Maya in relation to the organization of the festivities. On the one hand, they stress that the management has been sad, noting that when the deadline for proposals was opened in autumn, the proposal for the implementation of the program was made in the squares of O and Errekoletas, and that until April the City Council did not contact them. It is criticised that at the time of contact he did so without taking into account the proposal put forward. In addition, they indicate that only two meetings of the San Fermín Bureau have been convened, in which they have not been left with room to participate and discuss.
They have also had a rigid attitude on the part of the City Hall. They explain that after the refusal of authorization to use the requested spaces, the City Hall was asked to talk about alternatives, in which they found themselves with a rigid attitude "rejecting all the possible alternatives we proposed". The municipal representatives claim that, given the possible discomfort of the neighbors, they tried to negotiate schedules that contemplate the rest of the citizenship, without reaching an agreement. It is reported that a new treatment has been given to the bars that take the bar to the street in the plaza del Castillo, as the City Hall has authorized the service until 02:00 hours.
In addition to the above, the City Hall is accused of not taking into account that the festive space of the Sanfermines Público has been a safe space against sexist, LGTBIfobos and racist aggressions. "Let the parties be a joy for everyone on your agenda," they have made clear, according to the organizers of San Fermín.
Taking into account the relationship maintained with the City Hall and the conditions imposed by it, the organization of the Sanfermines Público has concluded that the holiday model of the Sanfermines Comunales is an obstacle for the Municipal Government, and therefore they want to become invisible. "The popular, participatory, feminist, ecologist, Basque, anti-capitalist and diverse sanfermines are an obstacle to them, and far from respecting the model we propose, they try to eliminate them from the party".
In the face of this attempt at exclusion, they are ratified in the wager for the Popular Sanfermines. Although they have decided to suspend the programme, they stress that they will seek new ways to celebrate the festivities that will focus and reclaim the values of the Popular Sanfermines. "We're angry, yes. But that anger will make it a force in favor of the Popular Sanfermines. We continue to work to make these special Sanfermines a real popular flourishing."