Of Basques and bulls
IN THE cheap, sunny seats of Pamplona's bullring they whistled and threw their seat cushions—not because of the standard of the bull-fighting, but for the lack of it. As a mark of respect for Miguel Angel Blanco Garrido, a local politician shot dead by ETA, the mayor had just announced a day's suspension of sanfermines, the week-long festival of bulls and boozing in this largely Basque town. Indignant at the rowdy jeering, respectable citizens jumped out of their expensive seats on the shady side of the bullring to chant: “Asesinos, asesinos, asesinos”.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Of Basques and bulls”
From the July 19th 1997 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Ursula von der Leyen has a new doctrine for handling the hard right
The boss of the European Commission embarks on a second term
Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets
She threatens to bring down the French government, but also faces a possible ban from politics
The maths of Europe’s military black hole
It needs to spend to defend, but voters may balk
Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south
Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale
Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats
The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare
A rise in antisemitism puts Europe’s liberal values to the test
The return of Europe’s oldest scourge