SHARE
COPY LINK

EQUALITY

IN PICTURES: Colourful LGBTQ Pride march takes over Madrid

Hundreds of thousands of people waved rainbow flags and danced to techno music at Madrid's Pride march on Saturday as the event returned following two years of Covid-enforced restrictions.

Dancers perform during Pride week in Madrid
Dancers perform during the "Marcha del Orgullo" Pride parade in Madrid, on July 9, 2022. - MADO (Madrid Pride) is a series of street celebrations that take place during the city's LGBTIQ Pride week. The Pride parade is the highlight of the week. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

Demonstrators in the Spanish capital gathered in the late afternoon behind a large banner with the slogan “visibility, pride and resilience”.

Some participants carried water pistols and sprayed each other to keep cool in the searing heat. Others went bare-chested and danced to the rhythm of Brazilian and techno music.

Participants wear costumes during the Pride march in Madrid

Participants wearing costumes celebrate during the “Marcha del Orgullo” Pride parade in Madrid, on July 9, 2022. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

Several ministers from Spain’s left-wing coalition government, including Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, joined them.

“I missed this a lot, the atmosphere is great. You can see that people really wanted to party after so long without a ‘normal’ Pride,” said Victor Romero Fernandez, a 38-year-old teacher.

A participant poses for pictures holding a sign reading “we want to be free and equal in our rural towns” during the “Marcha del Orgullo” Pride march in Madrid, on July 9, 2022.  (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

City authorities said more than 600,000 people took part in the event, which public broadcaster TVE covered live for the first time.

Civil servant Miguel Angel Alfonso, 44, appreciated seeing packed streets but thought the event should put more emphasis on demanding rights.

A couple kiss during the Pride march, the highlight of Pride week.  (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

“It has become a big party, with floats converted into discos and multinationals… it’s a big business,” he said.

Homosexuality was decriminalised in Spain in 1978, three years after the death of dictator Francisco Franco. The country has since legalised marriage and adoption for same-sex couples.

A participant stands next to a rainbow flag reading “Hatred” during the “Marcha del Orgullo” Pride parade in Madrid. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

But the national LGBTQ federation, FELGTBI+, said it was important to give “visibility” to the community, denouncing a growing “hate speech” in a statement before the march.

FELGTBI+ added that such discourse was “undermining the foundations of social harmony, putting at risk the gains achieved up to now”.

Hundreds of thousands of people took part in Madrid’s Pride march. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

The federation also supported a draft law, to be debated in parliament this summer, that would allow someone to change their name and gender on identity documents at their request from the age of 16.

If adopted, the legislation would make Spain one of few countries to allow self-determination of gender.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLITICS

Boyfriend of Madrid’s populist leader Ayuso faces tax fraud probe

The partner of Madrid's right-wing regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso is under investigation for alleged tax fraud of around $380,000, the latest corruption scandal to unsettle Spain's political establishment.

Boyfriend of Madrid's populist leader Ayuso faces tax fraud probe

The case involves Alberto Gónzalez Amador, partner of Madrid’s regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso, an outspoken hardliner from Spain’s right wing opposition Popular Party (PP).

It comes as Spain’s left-wing government has been struggling to handle the fallout of a separate corruption scandal involving a former minister’s top aide, drawing a barrage of attacks from the PP.

In the complaint which was filed with the courts earlier this month, a copy of which was seen by AFP, prosecutors allege Amador filed false invoices to reduce the tax owed by his company, Maxwell Cremona Ingeniería y Procesos Sociedad para el Fomento del Medioambiente SL.

ElDiario.es, the Spanish news website which broke the story, said the company, which is listed as offering engineering and other services, moved into healthcare-related matters during the Covid pandemic, which began in early 2020.

The corruption allegation involves the tax years 2020 and 2021.

Amador is facing two charges of tax fraud and one charge of falsifying documents.

Prosecutors also named four other people who ran nine companies that provided invoices for services never rendered.

READ ALSO: What is Spain’s ‘Caso Koldo’ corruption scandal all about?

Prosecutors began investigating in January after receiving a report from Spain’s “Agencia Tributaria” tax agency based on an audit of Maxwell Cremona’s activity in 2020 and 2021.

“During the audit… it was noted that in light of the increased turnover during these years, this company… did certain things with the sole aim of reducing its tax burden, deducting expenses based on invoices that did not correspond to services actually rendered,” prosecutors said.

“The taxpayer… knowingly and voluntarily submitted untruthful corporate tax returns for the 2020 and 2021 tax periods, failing to pay the amount of €155,000 ($169,000) for 2020 and €195,951.41 for 2021”.

In response, Ayuso said she was aware Amador was being “inspected by the tax office”.

But she but presented it as a government-led attempt “to cook up a conspiracy out of a tax inspection into a citizen who has nothing to do with the Madrid regional government”.

National government spokeswoman Pilar Alegría responded by saying the allegations were “very serious” and it was “absolutely essential that (Ayuso) give an appropriate explanation”.

Two years ago, Ayuso came under scrutiny following reports that her brother had pocketed nearly €300,000 in commission for face mask contracts awarded by her regional administration during the pandemic.

At the time, she conceded that her brother had been paid for securing the delivery of masks from China but insisted everything was above board and legal.

READ ALSO: Madrid’s Díaz Ayuso, a right-wing thorn in Spanish PM’s side

SHOW COMMENTS