Constitutional Court okays same-sex marriages

Spain's first gay marriage, July 2005

Over 20,000 marriages between July 2005 and December 2011

MADRID Same-sex marriages, a manifesto priority of the PSOE at the elections that brought in José Luis R. Zapatero for a second term in 2008, became legal in Spain seven years ago, but the party then in opposition and now in power, PP, sent it for scrutiny to the Constitutional Court alleging that it infringed Article 32 of the Constitution. The principal allegation was that marriage of people of the same sex 'de-natured' the basic institution of marriage as it has been understood until now. There have been>>>

Gay couple file complaint after they were ejected from April Fair in Sevilla

SEVILLA (Agencies) A couple have made a formal complaint to police in Seville after they were stopped from dancing together at the city's yearly April Fair (Feria de Abril), on the basis that they were gay.José Carlos Iglesias and Juan Carlos Cabezas were stopped by a married couple from dancing traditional sevillanas together in one of the many casetas (marquees) that host the festivities. According to Iglesias, aged 31, when the woman realized that the couple were gay, "she ordered the group that was playing music to stop," and then alerted her husband, who was the "president" of the particular tent. According to the complaint, the married couple then approached the gay men, and told them "they could not dance, that they were in a respectable caseta, and that two men could not dance together." The men were then invited to leave the tent, "on the basis that it was private property."
This is the second year running that such an incident has taken place at the Seville Fair, after a gay couple were also discriminated against in 2010 after they kissed one another. Discrimination on grounds of gender is illegal in Spain.
 

'We have something new to offer the erotic sensibilities of the area'

ALGECIRAS (Agencies / Photo: EuropaSur/Erasmo Fenoy) Steve Marín is 43, Gibraltarian and gay. He works in the financial services sector on the Rock and has recently opened a gay bar in San García, which he defines as 'the up and coming gay area of Algeciras'. He and his partners have opened the new place because they believe that it is also a way of promoting alternative (read gay) tourism. Although they say it is a gay establishment, it is 'open to everyone' and will be offering 'tv' and striptease shows, offering something new to the erotic map of the area. Having been to many gay establishments (de ambiente is the Spanish euphemism) all over Europe, Steve believes that they are a touch above the norm, and so wants to 'go upmarket' in this area as well.

Tourism for all: lots of choices for singles, gays, single parents and even families

SPAIN Specialised tourism is nothing new but the one-size-fits-all kind is gradually giving way to such specific-client holidays such as that offered to singles, gays, one parent families, activity or chill-out oriented and even for pets, so that Rover doesn't have to be kenneled. The singles market, which aims a lot of its marketing towards 'making new friends', is booming, according to Luis Pineda, who owns one of Spain's first singles holidays websites, solterosdeviaje.com. "We can't guarantee that they will their life's partner, but it has happened," he says. "What we can guarantee is a good ambiance, a group of people in similar positions, and everything they may want for a great holiday." He adds that his clients don't usually pay single occupancy fees as they are offered the option of sharing a room with another single with a similar profile. "Cruises are the rage right now," says Pineda.>