Take a Gay-cation!: Madrid, Spain
Posted by Mandy Randhawa on June 23, 2017
Take a Gay-cation!: Madrid
When it comes to travelling, you have to do a little extra homework if you’re not cis and straight. Can I bring my partner? How’s the Tinder scene? Are there friendly bars where we can hang out and have a drink without being harassed? Can we be on the street without being harassed? Will someone try to hurt us? So many questions. And that’s not even including the usual “How’s the arts and culture” questions you’ll have when planning.
In our Take a Gay-cation series, we’ll be looking at some cool places around the world that not only are safe for LGBTQ peeps, but also have a rich queer scene.
First stop: Madrid, Spain
LGBTQ residents. Then again, Irish just legalized gay marriage and they’re super Catholic, so maybe there’s still hope? Who knows. Anyway, speaking of gay marriage, Spain was the third country in the world to let queer couples tie the knot legally, which is pretty awesome. As a country, 88% of the country believes that society should accept homosexuality. 👏👏
Go in July (aka. ORGULLO aka. PRIDE MONTH)
As a world-class LGBTQ destination, of course Madrid has a huge annual Pride party. And it really is huge. Over 2 million people take part, and in case you haven’t heard, the Spanish know how to party. Clubs and bars open til 6 or 7 in the morning, and are full even on Sundays. (Work on Monday? What’s that?) There are also monthly queer parties even when it’s not Pride season—we might need to go there to do a little party research, if you know what we mean…
Don’t miss out on Chueca
Madrid is a big city, but if you’re looking for the queer scene, don’t miss Chueca. It’s basically our equivalent of Davie, with a bevy of LGBTQ businesses like bars, restaurants, shops, and even gay-friendly hotels and B&Bs.
Oh and by the way… Madrid will be hosting the WorldPride 2017. That’s. This. Year. Over a week of gaytastic activities and queers from all around the world. (Someone take us there pretty please.)