A new alleged rape shakes the Sanfermines a decade after 'La Manada'

A judge in Pamplona has decreed the provisional imprisonment, communicated and without bail, of the man arrested for an alleged rape committed during the Sanfermines festival. The reported sexual assault would have occurred around 4:45 AM on Saturday, July 11, in the Vuelta del Castillo, one of the main green spaces in the Navarrese capital.

The magistrate found a risk of flight after hearing the 29-year-old arrested man, who remains under investigation as the alleged perpetrator of a crime of sexual assault with penetration. The precautionary measure keeps his presumption of innocence intact while the proceedings advance and the circumstances of what happened are clarified.

The case has hit Pamplona on an especially sensitive date. Just a few days ago marked ten years since the group rape committed during the Sanfermines of 2016 by the five men who called themselves "La Manada". That assault, the subsequent judicial process, and the feminist response marked a before and after in the way of talking about consent and sexual violence in Spain.

The investigation moves to the specialized court

The Municipal Police arrested the suspect shortly after receiving the complaint. After appearing before the head of court number 1 of the Instruction Section of the Court of First Instance of Pamplona, the judge agreed to send him to prison due to the risk that he might evade justice.

The magistrate will now recuse herself in favor of court number 2 of the Section of Violence against Women, which will take over the investigation. This body will be responsible for carrying out the pending tests, taking the necessary statements, and deciding on the maintenance or modification of the precautionary measures.

The authorities have preserved the identity and privacy of the woman. The Pamplona City Council expressed its "total rejection and condemnation" and conveyed its "absolute support and solidarity" to the victim and her family.

The complaint has become known along with three other cases of touching reported during the same festive day. One person was arrested for one of these assaults, according to data transferred to the Local Civil Protection Board.

Pamplona responds again in the streets

The Feminist Movement of Iruñerria called a concentration in the Plaza del Castillo under the slogan "No to violence against women". The protest was attended by representatives of the peñas and Navarrese institutions and once again demanded festivities where women can go out, dance, and socialize without fear.

The City Council joined the call and asked men for active commitment against sexist aggressions. The declaration approved by all municipal groups rejected the cultural model that protects the aggressor, puts victims under suspicion, or turns sexual violence into a risk that they must learn to avoid.

Pamplona maintains an information and assistance point against sexist aggressions in the Plaza del Castillo during the festivities. Since the beginning of Sanfermines, 9,768 people have passed through it, a figure that reflects the scope of the preventive work deployed in the city.

This initiative draws on a trajectory that began long before the "La Manada" case. The murder of Nagore Laffage during the Sanfermines of 2008, after resisting a sexual assault, mobilized Navarrese society and gave impetus to the first stable protocols, to the "no means no" campaigns, and to the continuous work of feminist collectives and institutions.

The case that changed the response to sexual violence

In the early hours of July 7, 2016, five men took an 18-year-old woman to the doorway of a building in the center of Pamplona. There they cornered her, continuously raped her, recorded part of the aggression, and took her mobile phone.

The first sentence, issued in April 2018, sentenced them to nine years in prison for sexual abuse with prevalence. The court considered that the violence or intimidation then required by the Penal Code to speak of sexual aggression was not present. One of the magistrates even asked for their acquittal and described what was recorded as an atmosphere of "jollity and rejoicing".

The resolution filled the streets of all Spain. "It's not abuse, it's rape," "I do believe you," and "Sister, here is your pack" became the slogans of mobilizations that questioned the judicial view of victims and the implicit demand that a woman had to physically resist for her lack of consent to be recognized.

The Supreme Court corrected the ruling in June 2019. It raised the sentences to fifteen years and established that the five had committed a continuous rape within an "authentic intimidating scenario". The Prosecutor's Office had warned during the appeal that victims could not be required to adopt "heroic attitudes" in the face of an aggression.

That process promoted the reform of sexual offenses and ended up leading to the Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom Law of 2022. The norm eliminated the old separation between abuse and aggression, placed consent at the center and developed prevention, attention, specialization and reparation measures.

Its application also caused a serious controversy due to the downward revision of numerous sentences, including those of three members of "La Manada". Congress reformed the penal ranges in 2023, although subsequent changes could not reverse the reductions already agreed upon by the principle of applying the law most favorable to the defendant. Freely expressed consent remains the core of the regulation.

Ten years later, the five convicted individuals continue to serve their respective sentences. The new case opened in Pamplona stems from different facts and is still in its initial phase. Court number 2 of the Section of Violence against Women will now assume the investigation, while the detainee remains in provisional prison without bail.