The cost of the violet points at Bilbao's festival

Violet points at Aste Nagusia: 14,999 euros in weekly rent

Why does a woman going out at night in Bilbao have to put a lid on her drink, share her location and carry an alarm in her bag? The official answer is prevention. The economic one reads differently.

On 25 August 2026, a report by María de Maintenant covered the self-protection measures women adopt during Aste Nagusia. "We never walk home alone," one interviewee summed up. Onintza Enbeita, the speaker opening a festival that celebrates "there being room for everyone except those who don't know how to behave," included sensual aggressors on that list.

While women protect themselves, the city council installs violet points. The rent for one of these stands, according to the claims circulating in festival circles, amounts to 14,999 euros per week. Bilbao has placed five: 74,995 euros a week on structures alone. The figure is no accident: it sits just below the 15,000-euro threshold that requires a major contract. The workers, mostly volunteers, staff the stands. The question hanging in the air is what is provided in return: information, accompaniment and perhaps some pepper spray. None of that appears in the contract.

The report has not been free of controversy either. Some argue the problem is not self-protection but the lack of data on aggressors: "When you start giving all the details of the attackers in your articles, we'll talk." Others demand that safety must not become a business or a weapon hurled against immigration. Incompatible positions, yet both share the suspicion that something doesn't add up.

Meanwhile, the women of Bilbao will keep putting lids on their drinks. It's a cheap solution to a problem that, judging by the budget, seems expensive to solve.