Lava has developed a three-year career and has achieved a significant degree of referentiality in the Basque culture of Pamplona, unless it is located in the Old Town, the most important leisure area of the city. This was the main objective of the promoters of the association: to bring the Basque language and culture to the heart of the city, to the Plaza del Castillo.

The objective was not a joke and the obstacles that the association has faced from the beginning have not been negligible. On the one hand, to take the Basque language to the centre, in a predominantly Basque city; on the other hand, to have to manage a hostel with the difficulties that this entails, even having the status of a cafeteria, and without a license to serve alcoholic beverages. And, among other things, which may have been the most complicated problem, the fact that from the beginning it was not possible to use the terrace space that belonged to it.

David and Goliath, terrace kari

The question of the terrace has seriously overshadowed the intentions of the association, which came to judicialize the matter, and because the opponent was not anyone: Pamplona City Council managed by UPN. The municipal ordinances were clear, Café Laba had the right to use the space in front of it as a terrace, but the city council, managed by Enrique Maya, insisted on the negative. In the early moments, the Windsor Inn continued to use the terrace, and even when it had to abandon its use, it took Lava some time to make use of the corresponding right.

With the litigation going up, the litigation going down, the Administrative Court of Navarre finally ruled in favor of Lava in October 2022 and accepted her right to use the terrace. However, the City Council refused to grant the permit and in the end the Government of Navarre had to intervene and its General Director of Depopulation and Local Administration had to grant the authorization to use the terrace.

The association spent a lot of energy and strength on this complicated issue, but finally, in August 2023, Lava started using the terrace. From the beginning, however, Lava channeled an abundant cultural activity in the association, increasing its visibility with the terrace, as well as its income, which is not the same with or without the terrace.

Last summer the Windsor Bar closed its doors and then the family that owns the space in Laba bought the Windsor accommodation. This has allowed the association to revitalize the project. Lava reported in a press release on Thursday that in the new space “the stage will be expanded, the musical equipment will be improved and the room itself will be more decorated, as the appearance of the accommodation will also be renewed. We cannot give a specific opening date, but we intend to open the doors at the beginning of the school year at the latest.”

New Cafe Torino

Torino Nuevo SL will be the company that will manage the new space of Lava. This name is not the one that fell from the sky yesterday, in fact, in the 20th century there was Nuevo Café Torino until its closure in 1971. Later, this space was divided in two and now it will be reunited. While the current Laba cafeteria is closed, the cultural activity in Laba will take place in other spaces in the area. The Lava Association, among others, collaborates regularly with the associations of Karrikiri and Maldia in Zaldia, located in the Old Town.

The new space will therefore have the opportunity to become an even more visible reference space for Basque language and culture from autumn onwards: with a new and modern space, with all the characteristics of accommodation, and with the possibility of offering, in better conditions, a rich cultural activity so far.

In view of this Saturday’s party, the provisional greeting will be given to the Lava so far with the following program:

12:00. Fair, time capsule and vermouth, set by DJ Barbarie, in Lava.

13:00 The Tribe! In the lava.

14:30 Lunch at Bar Montón: menu 25 euros (precarious price 20 euros). You must write to info@laba.eus to register.

18:00 Act and swing dance, Laban.

19:00 Karaoke in Laba.

At the end of the day, with the Lava closed, they return to the Montón Bar: 24:00, DJ Barbarie.