San Fermín

San Fermín is the time marker for a visitor’s first encounter with the group in Lesaka: a summer festival trip that turned into a longer stay and, after the summer ended, an introduction to Tabese and the group’s concealed nature. Its narrative importance lies in the transition from casual tourism to involvement, not in any ritual activity attributed to the festival itself.

The summer visit

At twenty-five, newly graduated from university, the witness travelled with friends to spend San Fermín in the area. A woman he met invited them to the house she shared with others. The group initially appeared to be a commune exploring tradition, human nature, and the forces of nature. Its activities included listening to the wind, dancing around a fire, and gathering around a small marijuana plot.

The house also functioned as a point of entry for prospective members. The group held talks for people from the village and visitors who had come seeking spirituality, Baztán witchcraft, magic, or spiritism. The witness heard the members speak often about Tabese and his knowledge, but did not meet him during that first summer.

From visitor to insider

When summer ended, most of the others left. The witness, however, was invited to stay in the house. That change in circumstance marks the break between the group’s accessible, communal presentation and the more troubling character it began to reveal after his departure from the ordinary festival visit.

The witness met Tabese during September. He recalled being captivated by him and described the group’s devotion as intense: its members loved Tabese and were prepared to do whatever he asked. The account thus places the festival at the beginning of a progression from tourist curiosity, through an invitation to remain, to personal exposure to the group’s central figure.

Narrative significance

San Fermín supplies a precise seasonal hinge in the witness’s account. The festival brings outsiders into the region; the end of summer separates those who leave from the one visitor invited to stay; September brings the meeting with Tabese. The sequence makes the group’s recruitment appear gradual, with ordinary social and spiritual interests forming the first approach before the witness encounters its deeper nature.

The testimony later describes the group’s beliefs about ritual sacrifice, including its claimed importance of a child’s age and unbaptized status. Those beliefs are presented as the group’s rationale, not as facts established by the festival period. San Fermín anchors when the witness entered the group’s orbit; it is not identified as the cause or setting of the rites he later discusses.