Hundreds of
thousands of people from across Europe packed into Madrid on
Saturday and joined in a gay pride parade that saluted
Spain's Socialist government for enacting
legislation that has turned this once deeply
conservative nation into a bastion of gay equality.
The parade, which
filled the capital's vast Alcala and Gran Via
boulevards from Puerta de Alcala square in the east to Plaza
de Espana square in the west, took place in a festive
and peaceful atmosphere.
For days, buses
and airplanes had arrived in Madrid loaded with people
set on taking advantage of a four-day annual gay festival,
which started Wednesday in the Spanish capital's
colorful Chueca neighborhood as a prelude to
Saturday's bigger, continent-wide Euro Pride events.
Abouy 200
cultural, sporting, and other events were scheduled
around Madrid, where organizers estimated as many as
2.5 million people were taking part.
''They've been
enjoying the Chueca festival, at which we've seen many
more people than in previous years,'' Antonio Poveda,
president of Spain's lesbian, gay, transgender, and
bisexual federation, said earlier.
The parade, with
at least 45 festive floats, crisscrossed Madrid under
the banner ''Now Europe, equality is possible.''
Groups of women
carried banners saying, ''Families are important. Gay and
lesbian families also matter.''
''We have to
defend our rights as gays, and from Spain we are going to
proclaim loudly that these rights can be achieved,'' said
Poveda, 39, speaking in a bar which, like much of
Chueca, was festooned with gay rights placards and
colorful streamers.
''In this country
we are in the vanguard of social victories. We had
always been behind Europe,'' Poveda said.
Spain,
predominantly Roman Catholic, had for centuries been under
the moral guardianship of the church. The
1939-1975 military dictatorship of Gen.
Francisco Franco ruled with an iron grip, and homosexuality
was illegal.
Homosexuality was
decriminalized in 1979. Today, Spain has some of the
most liberal gay rights laws in the world.
The Socialist
government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in 2005 approved
same-gender marriages, began allowing gay couples to adopt
children, and enacted legislation that gave gay
people rights equal to those of heterosexuals in
areas including inheritance and workplace benefits.
Since then, out
of an estimated gay population of 4 million, up to 10,000
gay couples have wed, Poveda said.
In the parade,
marchers urged other countries to follow Spain's lead.
Several groups carried banners saying, ''Poland, stop
homophobia. For a European Union free of
discrimination,'' ''Next Euro Pride in Poland,'' and
''Watch out for the German shepherd'' next to a photograph
of Pope Benedict XVI.
Gay activists
draped in rainbow flags also demonstrated in front of the
Polish Embassy in Madrid, calling for equality for Poland's
gays. Demonstrators called on Poland's conservative
government to back down from a policy against
so-called homosexual influences in public life.
(Harold Heckle, AP)