The Alarde parades take part in several places throughout the Basque Country; they have lost their original military purpose and become popular festivities. At Hondarribia, on the coast of Gipuzkoa, it is held on the 8th of September in honour of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

In 1997 a group of women and men in Hondarribia founded the Jaizkibel Company as a way to take part in the parade in equality. While more people take part every year, this year's persecution of them has been worse than usual and aimed at excluding women from the parade.

Supporters of the "traditional parade" put up posters and black plastic sheets and, with whistles and loudspeakers in their hands, made their protest against Jaizkibel Company's parade.

During the morning 700 people took part in the equal rights parade – with Oihana Etxebarrieta as their captain – and, when they came into the High Street, people in favour of the discriminatory parade started kicking up a fuss. The members of Jaizkibel Company felt hurt. "It was really tough", Etxebarrieta told us.

It was similar during the afternoon parade: black plastic sheets, posters and shouting. Several journalists also denounced people in favour of the discriminatory parade for having attacked them while they were working. Before heading up the street three members of Jaizkibel Company asked the Basque Autonomous Police to carry out the Basque Government's decision with regard to the black plastic sheets. "We know what we have to do better than you lot do" was the agent’s reply. Even so, the police added that they would fine people who did not obey the government's decision.

Jaizkibel Company has asked the authorities to answer for their actions after they were attacked on September 8th. "What we went through in the High Street showed the roughest side of a wave which is going backwards." Josu Erkoreka – the head of the Basque Government's Justice and Local Administration department – announced that recordings were going to be used to investigate what had happened.

This article was translated by 11itzulpen; you can see the original in Basque here.