No bare breasts at this year's Running of the Bulls festival

Spanish authorities are trying to cut down on sexual assaults at the Pamplona festival and have asked women to refrain from removing their tops

Women will be banned from baring their breasts during celebrations at this year’s Running of the Bulls fiesta in Pamplona after complaints that it encourages sexual assaults.
Authorities will this year attempt to stop the “bacchanal display” of women lifting their tops as they are held up in the crowds to be groped by men and squirted with red wine when the festival starts on Sunday.

During the Chupinazo, the ceremony which marks the start of the eight-day festival made famous by Ernest Hemingway in his book The Sun Also Rises, thousands of revelers crowd into the square in front of the town hall for the start of the San Fermines fiesta.

Images of women going topless during the celebration, which takes place at noon on July 6, have enraged anti-gender violence groups and led to a backlash against the festivities.
"Accepting these images as a merry bacchanal legitimizes male domination and sexual assault," wrote Emilia Laura Arias, a journalist specializing in gender equality, after the ceremony last year.

The mayor of Pamplona has announced that for the first time in the festival’s history police officers will be on patrol this year specifically to focus on preventing sexist attacks on women, even if the displays are “voluntary”.

“We are concerned about these sexual assaults and want to prevent practices, especially during the Chupinazo, which present a negative image of the city,” said Enrique Maya, the mayor.
Although he admitted that policing the event where thousands are squeezed into a tiny area would be difficult he said that officers would watch from balconies within the square in a bid to prevent sexist aggression and identify perpetrators.

Those found in breach of the new bylaws, which include those regulating behaviour during the bull runs, face fines of up to €3000 (£2,378).

Posters will be placed around the city warning revelers to respect women. “Someone exposing their body does not legitimise assaulting them,” reads one of the warnings.

[readon1 url="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/10946586/No-bare-breasts-at-this-years-Running-of-the-Bulls-festival.html"]Source:www.telegraph.co.uk[/readon1]