In 1571 the Christian fleet defeated the Turks at the battle of Lepanto, thus cutting short the expansion of Islam across the western Mediterranean. It is said that some young men from Elorrio took part in the battle, and that when they returned home they were so overjoyed at the first sight of their hometown from the nearby mountain pass of Kanpazar that they could not resist announcing their arrival by firing their guns into the air.

​Their return coincided with the procession of Our Lady of the Rosary, and as a result it became traditional in the town to fire guns into the air as the figure of the Virgin Mary passed. On the first Sunday in October every year the “Errebombillos” parade through the streets of Elorrio in a procession recalling the homecoming of these local combatants in the battle of Lepanto.

​This is a peculiar case within the tradition of military parades in the Basque Country: it involves a single company of between 12 and 14 young people known as the “Errebombillos” who march under the orders of a captain. They wear frock coats, great white cravats and tricorn hats. Records show that the parade has been taking place at least since 1575, four years after the battle of Lepanto, but there is no reason to believe that there were not already military parades through the streets of the town before that date.