The impact of the feminist movement on popular and participatory festivals in Bilbao: the case of the feminist comparsa Mamiki Emakumeon Konpartsa (1979–2022)

Abstract

The appearance of participatory and popular festivities in Bilbao, the Aste Nagusia, in 1978 led to a new field of action for the feminist movement of Bizkaia, united under the
Assembly of Women of Bizkaia/Bizkaiko Emakumeen Asanblada (AMB/BEA). Thus, in 1979, Mamiki Emakumeon Konpartsa was created by the AMB/BEA, whose activity
ended in 2022. The work is based on a diachronic research based on interviews with members of the group, as well as on the analysis of bibliographic, graphic, documental
and institutional sources. It also collects the subjective experiences of both women who have actively participated in the comparsa, as well as women attending the festivities.
Its objective is twofold: on the one hand, to examine the historical path of Mamiki as a tool for feminist politicization and as a preventive and action agent against aggressions;
and on the other hand, to analyze the quantitative and qualitative impact of the feminist movement in raising awareness and denouncing aggressions against women. The evolution of the comparsa and its performance in the participatory festivities of Bilbao reveal the impact not only of the feminist movement in the festive space, but also in the way of organizing the festivities themselves. That way, the development of a formalized and institutionalized protocol in 2008 boosted the denunciation of aggressions against women, as well as the awareness of the society towards this problem. Although the quantitative data collected on registered complaints for assaults against women do not show a linear increase in the number of such complaints, the interviews and the experiences reported show a greater visibility and collective awareness of the situation experienced by women in festive spaces, Mamiki being one of the main transforming agents of the Aste Nagusia in terms of feminist awareness.