Barcelona Hotels For A Culture Break

Gay tourists often flock to Sitges as the city is full of gay-friendly entertainment. Situated about 35km from Barcelona, the Southern Spain city is well known for a relaxed approach to life. Sitges’ gay scene is well-known both locally and internationally, with plenty of gay bars and clubs. One of the largest draws for gay visitors is the annual Sitges carnival, which is held this year from February 16th to 22nd. This is a busy time for Costa Brava hotels, as a huge number of tourists flood the region.

There is often a shortage of space in Barcelona hotels around this time, when the carnival is officially opened by the traditional figure of ‘Jueves Lardo’, or Fat Thursday.Traditional local foods and folk dances open the festivities officially once his opening speech has concluded. The crowd is always whipped into a frenzy when the King of the Carnival arrives. This is usually a vibrant and flamboyant character, dressed in garish garments and wigs. He and his retinue make their way to Rafael Llopart via Angel Vidal and St Damian. On his way, he chooses a Carnival Queen – which is usually a guy in drag! They make their way to the Town Hall where they are welcomed by the mayor.

Chueca is the gay area of choice for many gay tourists when booking Madrid hotels. Chueca has a bohemian feel to it and as well as the many sex bars and gay saunas, there are also a number of chill-out bars. Two gay bars to be recommended are WE and Space of Sound. Most of the action in Chueca takes place on Calle Horteleza and Cella de Fuencarral. You can easily recognise the gay bars and clubs by the multi-coloured flags outside. The Gay Pride Festival in Madrid is one of the biggest in the world, attraction over 1 million visitors. It’s usually held in the first weekend in July and runs from Friday through to Sunday with many colourful events and parades.