Gay torremolinos
Torremolinos is famous for its world famous gay community and nightlife. The walkway outside Mariquita Copas , a hole-in-the-wall bar in Torremolinos' main "gaybourhood", La Nogalera , glowed blue. After finishing my beer on our first night in town, my boyfriend and I left the drag bar and explored the scene, from La Nogalera's lively wine bar El Armario Bodega to the capacious club Aqua and long-established Men's Bar, home to an older crowd.
Gill Douglas, owner of the gay bar Boomerang , swapped Scotland for Torremolinos two decades ago. As I sipped a beer on my first night in town, I surveyed the scene: pedestrians holding shopping bags had stopped to chat; a man and woman sat entwined on a bench; and gay locals clinked cocktail glasses.
Marco America, founder of Pinktorremolinos. A coastal retreat on the beautiful Costa del Sol in Spain, Gay Torremolinos is known for its splendid beaches, varied nightlife, affordable prices, and jam-packed calendar of annual events. Packed with bars, clubs, and terraces, it’s the vibrant heart of LGBTQ+ nightlife on the Costa del Sol.
Of course, it wasn't always this way. The makeshift drinking terrace I was sitting at was surrounded by palm-filled squares in the heart of southern Spain's Costa del Sol, a few blocks up from the Mediterranean. Those lights, for us, it was like we were in New York, we had never seen that neon in our lives.
Torremolinos' buzzy scene was also home to Manolita Chen , a pioneering trans woman who became the first Spanish person to legally change her gender and adopt children: "At that time, in , I was working in a restaurant on Calle San Miguel," Chen later said. In the midst of it all was a bearded drag artist, outlandishly tall in knee-length platform boots, leather cap and skin-tight camouflage bodysuit.
Guía compacta y continuamente actualizada de locales, fiestas y eventos, inclusive mapas gay de Torremolinos. Let's start, as we Brits like to, with the weather. This, I soon realised, was just another night in Torremolinos. Originally a poor fishing village, Torremolinos' sub-tropical climate — among the warmest in Spain — was key in its metamorphosis into a resort during the s.
Torremolinos calls itself the gay capital of Spain. With Francisco Franco 's fascist government keen to encourage hotel construction to kickstart Spain's war-decimated economy, by the town boasted the country's first five-star hotel Hotel Pez Espada. By the early s, Torremolinos had become increasingly synonymous with tacky bars and a cheap escape for boozy British holidaymakers.
On 24 June that year, the police ruthlessly raided the area, closing and fining venues while arresting more than people some reports suggest up to — the majority of whom were tourists. Torremolinos has had quite the cultural journey, and its story is still evolving. Sure enough, the area emptied after the raid, and squatters, prostitution and drugs moved in — a trend that extended to the town as a whole.
Escape to the sunshine and sizzle on the gay beaches of Torremolinos, the vibrant gay capital of Spain's Costa del Sol. Discover more with Travel Gay!. El mapa gay misterb&b de Torremolinos te muestra lo mejor de la escena gay local y la ubicación de los bares, saunas, clubes y locales de cruising de moda.
Tony's was an instant smash and over the next few years, it inspired a slew of other establishments catering to the gay community. A profile listing of gay bars, pubs, lounges, nightclubs and other gay venues located in Torremolinos, Spain (Espana). What was once a sleepy fishing community soon transformed into a queer hub known for its inclusivity and hedonism.
When night falls, Torremolinos turns it all the way up and La Nogalera is the place to be. Why Torremolinos? Today, those pioneers would likely be thrilled to know that this 68,person community is home to dozens of thriving queer bars, clubs and businesses.
There are still a couple of monthly girls' nights, and Boomerang has customers from across the spectrum and of every nationality… exactly the way I wanted it. Aided by the rise of charter flights in the late s, the increasingly cosmopolitan and liberal town began attracting artists, musicians, writers and queer visitors, too.
But, as I was about to learn, not only did the country's first gay-friendly bar open here back in , it was also where Spain's gay rights movement began — rather violently.