The opening ceremony of Spain’s world-renowned San Fermín festival in Pamplona took a disturbing turn this weekend when anti-Israel activists were invited to lead the official launch. The ceremony — traditionally marked by fireworks and celebration — was marred by chants of “Free Palestine” and “Destroy Israel,” igniting outrage across Jewish and diplomatic communities.

Wearing keffiyehs, members of the radical group Yala Nafarroa con Palestina lit a rocket-shaped flare symbolizing the start of the bull-running festivities. Standing atop the city hall balcony, activist Laidon Soriano shouted into the microphone: “Long live Free Palestine!” Her words were followed by a staged performance below, where activists unfurled a massive banner reading “Destroy Israel” amid a human formation in the shape of Israel’s map. Some participants in the square waved red handkerchiefs — a traditional San Fermín symbol — altered to display the borders of Israel labeled as “Palestine.”

The grotesque display drew immediate backlash. Israel’s embassy in Spain issued a scathing condemnation, calling the event “an obsession with the Jewish state and a disgrace.” “It is intolerable that Spanish institutions support individuals or groups whose only goal is to incite hatred against Israel,” the statement read. “When public institutions legitimize this obsession with the Jewish state, they fuel rising antisemitism across Europe.”

In contrast, Pamplona’s mayor Joseba Asiron, who invited the group, said he was “proud” of the message of “solidarity, rationality, and humanity” sent by the activists — a remark critics described as willful blindness to incitement and hate speech.