(MADRID) — Protests erupted across Spain Thursday after a court in the northern city of Pamplona sentenced five men to nine years each in prison for the lesser crime of sexual abuse in what activists saw as a gang rape during the 2016 running of the bulls festival in Pamplona. “It’s not abuse, it’s rape!” shouted protesters in live television broadcasts from the gates of the Navarra provincial court when the ruling was announced. Police stopped the crowd from advancing toward the entrance to the court, with some angry demonstrators shoving officers. Thousands of protesters gathered hours later in central Pamplona and most of Spain’s major cities, including Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Bilbao, Valencia and Zaragoza.