Gay Pride Festival in Gran Canaria (Photo: Amit YadgarEdit by Ziv Steiner)
10.5.2023, Wednesday morning, my friends and I took a 05:30 am flight with a stop in Madrid, and a connecting flight to Gran Canaria. Around noon we were already at the hotel. The goal: the big gay pride festival of Maspalomas, considered one of the best in the world and the first pride event to open World Pride Month.
We arrived just in the middle of the beach party (attached to the hotel) which started around noon. We organized and streamed into the party to the rhythm of the crazy music that was there, accompanied by dancers (dressed minimally) on stage, while most of the audience itself was almost naked.
At around 12:00 P.M., Israeli DJ Orel Sabag came up and picked up the party and closed it, giving us at least a great opening to the vacation and a double sense of pride. After that, we looked for something to eat and cut to sleep so that we would have the strength to function later on, after a long day/night on the road.
Needless to say, the atmosphere at the party (and on the island in general during the festival) is electrifying – everyone is walking around horny. Just open Grindr and see that within a radius of 19 meters all the studs are around you at any given moment. Needless to say, there are drugs for those who are looking, and of course alcohol is plentiful.
Considered one of the best in the world. Maspalomas Pride Festival (Photo: User Photos, Amit Yadgar)
The drag performances featured crazy performances, colorful décor and props that were pulled out as a surprise (Photo: Surfers' Photos, Amit Yadgar)
"Little Switzerland" of the Canary Islands
Most of the events take place at Yumbo, a shopping complex with a huge plaza with pubs that explode with people every night. All the line-ups are from Freedom, who lifted each party as a production in its own right.
We chose to start with some culture and took a bus to the "Little Switzerland" of the Canary Islands, located in the town of Mogan. From there we continued to a gorgeous and nudist beach (mixed crowd) excellent for sunbathing, and from there with a spontaneous decision we continued to another beach (also a mixed and nudist crowd), larger and more beautiful, in retrospect, with a variety of water activities. After that, we returned to the hotel to get organized and rest a bit and went out for a huge, world-class drag party - two full hours of drag competitions involving the audience in voting, with crazy performances of movements, colorful décor and props pulled out of the clothes as a surprise. Each drag tried to compete and invest in its performance and accessories - hoping to win the round until the final, all accompanied by upbeat music with lots of energy from the audience.
After the end of the show and the selection of the drag queen for this year, the party began in that plaza into the wee hours of the night, or rather, early in the morning. At any party like this one, the choice is yours: dance and have fun with yourself and the alcohol get to know while the people around you (tourists mainly, Germans, Irish, Spaniards, mother, some studs or in Spanish Guapossssssss).
Mogan. A gorgeous and nudist beach excellent for sunbathing (Photo: Surfers' Photos, Amit Yadgar)
Lots of music, alcohol and studs everywhere. The Pink Party (Photo: User Photos, Amit Yadgar)
Sex in the dunes
The next day we went to explore the dunes of Maspalomas (Dunas de Maspalomas), beyond the huge reserve of dunes and its beautiful quarrel, along which there is a gorgeous stretch of beach that is all nudist, with dedicated beaches for gays.
The "magic" of the dunes takes place deep in designated areas (and those that don't) usually among the bushes, but also not only - people have one-on-one or group sex during the day, evening, night. Oh yes, there are also camel rides here for those interested.
After touring there, we returned to our excellent hotel to get organized and went to the biggest and most successful party at the Sundance festival. The party, which took place at the Ocean complex, began at noon and continued until around 20:30 p.m. (sunset). This is a huge complex with a big pool, dancers, well-known (Spanish) singers, all with swimsuits, really a party experience together with the sun.
In the evening we went to the Pink Party, the "Pink Party" - lots of music, alcohol and studs everywhere, excessively. During the party there was a surprise: confetti strips and huge pink balls thrown at the crowd (a surprising pink color), and this was the highlight of the party.
A gorgeous stretch of beach that is all nudist. The dunes of Maspalomas (Photo: surfers' photos, Amit Yadgar)
The "magic" of the dunes happens in their depths. Amit Yadgar Holot (Photo: User Photos, Amit Yadgar)
Parade Day
You probably think - that the parade in Gran Canaria is similar to the one in Israel: 6-5 trucks, some music, a few artists and that's it. So that's it, no. A huge parade that began in a large central square, with each truck with a different theme, a different audience and different music. A total of 31 trucks participated in a long and crazy parade of about two hours.
Along the parade route there were lots of stalls where you could buy alcohol and snacks, lots of color in the streets, pride flags and lots of electricity in the air. The parade ended near Yumbo, where the closing party began, one that began around 19 p.m. and ended in the early morning. Lots of alcohol, lots of happy people, gays, lesbians and I'm sure straight people who wanted to enjoy the music (and more). The organizers reported that about 00,80 people came and there was even a helicopter in the air that filmed during the parade and the aftermath party.
According to the organizers, about 000,10 people participated in various events on all 250 days of the festival.
It was also Eurovision night, so at one point we went to a nearby bar to see our Noa and pick her up. The funny thing was that next to us were Swedes, who actually quite liked Noa and praised her very much, but still wanted to win. As you know, we settled for third place, congratulated our Swedish neighbors on the win and returned to the party.
At any party, the choice is yours: dance with yourself or meet people around you (Photo: User Photos, Amit Yadgar)
A total of 31 trucks participated in the parade (Photo: Surfers' Photos, Amit Yadgar)
Find a "husband" for the rest of the evening
On the last day we chose to change direction and went for a walk around the island zoo - the truth was really surprising and fun. Dolphin shows, lots of birds of different species, a show of special birds and a cactus and orchid garden.
We returned in the early afternoon straight to the last Ice Cream party, which took place in a hotel pool. It was a completely different experience, as it was relatively not large, with a higher quality audience and each one more handsome than the other. At this party there were fewer boundaries, and you could find people having sex while in one corner or another or just in the hot tub and dancers who gave a great performance to the sound of music. This party also ended around 21:00 P.M., and then everyone chose for themselves whether to find a "husband" for the rest of the evening, or use the Grindr app.
When the days of the parade ended and after the parties were over, we continued to travel for a few more days on the island, which was slowly emptying out, until it was also our turn to return home.
There are Pride festivals in Gran Canaria twice a year: the winter festival in November, which is usually claimed to be a bit more mature, and the summer festival, which takes place in May and attracts mostly young people. And one last tip from me, please use contraception so you can keep yourself and others safe and come back next year as well.
More information can be found on the website about Gran Canaria in Hebrew or the Facebook group about Gran Canaria
- tourism
- World Travel
- Europe
- Spain
Tags
- Canary Islands
- Gran Canaria
- pride parade
- Spain
- Tours in Europe
- Gay
- Gay
