This is a three-part piece. The first is a history of lesbian involvement in Pride in Spain. This, the second part, is a guide to Madrid related sites connected to Orgullo, and some of the history attached to those places.  It is not so a guided walking route but a list of places connected to them. A lot of them are actual walking routes for previous pride routes. A number are cultural venues, where you might want to catch a movie or see what is happening, even if what is currently on is not explicitly connected to lesbians. The last part is much the same as the second, except the focus is on the rest of Spain.

Route

Arguelles

The 2016 Madrid pride festivities included a 1 July showing of the French lesbian film, La belle saison, at Cines Golem Madrid, located at Calle de Martín de los Heros, 14.

Atocha

The 2018 Pride March followed the same route as previous years, starting at the Glorieta de Carlos V and ending at Plaza de Colón. Despite many prohibitions on marching put up by the city because of the pandemic, a much smaller scaled down Orgullo march took place on 3 July 2021 starting at the glorieta de Carlos V and ending at Plaza de Colón. The focus of the march was on trans rights, vindicating LGBT organization efforts to get self-ID efforts put into law. It was organized by Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gais, Trans y Bisexuales (FELGTB), COGAM, Colectivo LGTB+ de Madrid and AEGAL among others. Organizers asked all attendees to practice social distancing and to wear masks.

Chopera

Cineteca Matadero, located at Plaza de Legazpi, 8, is a movie theater founded in 2011 in a space that once held the old refrigeration units and boiler of the municipal slaughterhouse. It has three salons, with one seating 224 people, and another 129 and the third seating 65 people. Cineteca Matadero hosted a queer film series as part of extended 2017 World Pride events. The memories transfeministas queer / cuir cycle took place in mid-September. Among the films that appeared at the event was The Watermelon Woman, a film based on the story of black lesbian Cheryl who struggles to make a documentary about black 1930s film actress Fae Richards, commonly referred to as the watermelon woman. The eighth edition of the Nuestra de Cine Lésbico was held at Cineteca Matadero from 23 to 26 May 2019. Among the films screened were Tell It To The Bees, Carmen y Lola, Rafiki, Cloudburst, Las Hijas del Fuego, Lesbofobia, Cárceles Bolleras, Small Talk and La Vida de Adele. The film festival was organized by Fundación Triángulo.

Villaverde Entiende y Usera con Orgullo both held Pride marches on 2 July 2016 with the goal of showing that gay rights and LGBT visibility should not and do not die on the periphery of Madrid. Their march started in the south and ended at Atocha, joining the bigger Orgullo events in the city. They were supported by neighborhood organizations including La Unidad de Villaverde Este, La Unidad de San Cristóbal, AVIB, AV La Incolora, AV Los Rosales, AV Zofío y AV Orcasitas, and the Delegación de la FAPA de Villaverde. Their march started at the Metro Villaverde Bajo-Cruce, continued to Metro San Fermín-Orcasur in Usera, and onwards to Metro Legazpi.

El Goloso

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, located at Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco, is a public university established on 6 June 1968. Despite being one of the youngest public universities in Spain it has been ranked as the the best university in Spain. The main campus is Cantoblanco, with a medicine campus located near Hospital Universitario La Paz, and the student resident village La Cristalera located in Miraflores de la Sierra. Sedef Çakmak was among the lesbians to attend World Pride 2017 Madrid. She was the first publicly out lesbian politician in Turkey. She also participated in the International Conference on Human Rights, held from June 26 to 28 at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid that occurred in conjunction with Madrid World Pride.

Jerónimos

Museo del Prado, located at Calle de Ruiz de Alarcón, 23, is one of the most important museums in the world and is the most visited tourist attraction in Madrid. The museum officially opened on 19 November 1819 in a building first created in 1786. The building has undergone several major renovations in 1853, 1882, 1885, 1914 to 1921, 1943 to 1946, 1954-1956 and 2001 to 2007. It houses a number of important works of Spanish artists, giving a chronology the greats in Spanish art history. An oil painting of Carolina Coronado hangs in Sala A. The portrait was done by Federico de Madrazo in 1855. The collection also contains the work of Marisa Roesset Velasco. In 2018, the museum appeared in an advertisement for Orgullo 2018 that featured a pair of lesbian grandmothers reminiscing on how much Madrid has changed for lesbians in the past 40 years.

Los Rosales

Villaverde Entiende y Usera con Orgullo both held Pride marches on 2 July 2016 with the goal of showing that gay rights and LGBT visibility should not and do not die on the periphery of Madrid. Their march started in the south and ended at Atocha, joining the bigger Orgullo events in the city. They were supported by neighborhood organizations including La Unidad de Villaverde Este, La Unidad de San Cristóbal, AVIB, AV La Incolora, AV Los Rosales, AV Zofío y AV Orcasitas, and the Delegación de la FAPA de Villaverde. Their march started at the Metro Villaverde Bajo-Cruce, continued to San Fermín-Orcasur in Usera, and onwards to Legazpi.

Sol

Cines Callao, located at Plaza de Callao, 3, was opened in 1926. It was and remains a popular place for all Madrileños to visit and catch a movie. During the late 1920s and early 1930s, it was also a place where lesbians would covertly have dates with other women. Among those lesbians taking dates there was Victorina Duran. The best day of my life is a documentary film made during World Pride Madrid, and follows the story of six people who attended the march from countries where homosexuality is illegal. A March 2018 preview of the film was held at Cines Calloa that was attended by Manuela Carmena and the film’s director Fernando González Molina. One of the stories told was that of Ugandan lesbian activist Ruth Muganzi. In her country, being a lesbian can result in up to seven years in prison and where others can murder lesbians with impunity.

Before the city had its first pride march, militant lesbian feminists and some male homosexuals had marched a few times during the early 1970s. These were often organized at the dark and underground lesbian bar, Berliner. One such march took place on calle Preciados. Vito Virtudes was among the lesbians participating in these early marches.

The 1988 Pride event took place on 28 June. Around 100 people participated in the march, organized by lesbian groups, with a route taking place from Plaza de Callao to Puerta del Sol and then on to Calle de Preciados. It was in this period that Pride continued primarily because of lesbian activists. Transactivist have criticized pride in this period for excluding transwomen, engaging in transmisogyny and being largely focused on lesbian feminism. Lesbians disagreed, saying their need for visibility and the need to combat sexism in the homosexual rights movement was why they were being so militant.

Puerta de Alcalá was the starting point for the city’s pride route between 1995 and 2003, with Puerta del Sol being the end point for the march each of those years.

The 1996 pride march, called Día del Orgullo de Gays, Lesbianas y Transexuales, had a route from Puerta de Alcalá to Puerta del Sol. More than 2,000 people participated. The march included the first float. Several lesbian organizations participated including LSD, Feminista de Lesbianas, and Coletivos de Gays y Lesbianas. Mili Hernández was involved with the march. The march took place in 30 degree weather, and started with a lesbian orchestra leading the way. They were followed by a float full of transvestites dressed in carnival type costumes, and followed later by more male nudity. There was little female nudity in the event.

The 2004 pride march and 2006 pride march both started at Puerta del Sol and ended in Plaza de Callao.

The 2007 pride march started at Puerta del Sol and ended in Plaza de España. This route was chosen because it was longer and could accommodate more participants.

Fundación Entredos, located at Calle del Marqués Viudo de Pontejos, 4, is a space for women to learn from other women. Classes and events they have run include yoga classes, writing workshops, cooking classes. Lesbians who have been involved in the organization include Victoria Virtudes. The foundation has marched in Orgullo Madrid.

Numancia

The 1982 pride protest took place in Vallecas, running along the Puente de Vallecas-Avenida de la Albufera-Portazgo axis. The 25 June 1982 march was convened by Colectivo de Feministas Lesbianas de Madrid and FLHOC. About 300 people participated, including lesbians in shirts with the female symbol with a fist in the center.

Avenida de la Albufera, 46, is where the first authorized pride march took place in Vallecas. The 300 or so protesters were confronted by the police in front of the building after the police wanted marchers to change their route on 25 June 1982.

Recoletos

The 1996 Madrid pride march, called 1996 Día del Orgullo de Gays, Lesbianas y Transexuales, had a route from Puerta de Alcalá to Puerta del Sol. More than 2,000 people participated. The march included the first float. Several lesbian organizations participated including LSD, Feminista de Lesbianas, and Coletivos de Gays y Lesbianas.

Plaza de Colón is located at the intersection of three districts in Madrid, Chamberi, Centro and Salamanca. It was originally known as Plaza de Santiago, with the name changed in 1893 to honor Christopher Colombus. The plaza features a column with Columbus on top. On one edge of the plaza is where the world’s largest Spanish flag is flown. The 2018 Pride March followed the same route as previous years, starting at the Glorieta de Carlos V and ending at Plaza de Colón. Despite many prohibitions on marching put up by the city because of the pandemic, a much smaller scaled down Orgullo march took place on 3 July 2021 starting at the Glorieta de Carlos V and ending at Plaza de Colón. The focus of the march was on trans rights, vindicating LGBT organization efforts to get self-ID efforts put into law. It was organized by Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gais, Trans y Bisexuales (FELGTB), COGAM, Colectivo LGTB+ de Madrid and AEGAL among others. Organizers asked all attendees to practice social distancing and to wear masks.

San Fermín

Villaverde Entiende y Usera con Orgullo both held Pride marches on 2 July 2016 with the goal of showing that gay rights and LGBT visibility should not and do not die on the periphery of Madrid. Their march started in the south and ended at Atocha, joining the bigger Orgullo events in the city. They were supported by neighborhood organizations including La Unidad de Villaverde Este, La Unidad de San Cristóbal, AVIB, AV La Incolora, AV Los Rosales, AV Zofío y AV Orcasitas, and the Delegación de la FAPA de Villaverde. Their march started at the Metro Villaverde Bajo-Cruce, continued to Metro San Fermín-Orcasur in Usera, and onwards to Legazpi.

Universidad

COGAM, located at Calle de la Puebla, 9, is the major LGBTQI+ organization in Madrid, and represents institutional LGBT activism in the city. The group came out of Coordinadora de Frentes de Liberación Homosexual del Estado Español. It was formally established in 1988. The idea for the organization came out of a seminar in 1986 in Chueca. Mili Hernandez Garcia was the first lesbian to join the preceding organization, doing so in 1986. COGAM soon took over management of Orgullo Madrid, the city’s pride event. While lesbians were members, they were largely relegated to the background. Liberation politics began to be rejected by COGAM in 1990, and then split from COFLHEE in 1991. COGAM then began to organize nationally, working on institutional political goals for gays and lesbians. COGAM had its second split in 1996, in the waning days of the González government. In 1998, COGAM began advocating for same-sex marriage and same-sex couple adoption. In 2000, Navarre became the first region to allow lesbians and gays to adopt. The law passed despite opposition from Navarrese People’s Union (UPN). COGAM spokesperson Beatriz Gimeno said of the passage of the law, “It is a great step forward because it breaks with the last social taboo that exists towards homosexuals.” In 2021, lesbian feminists and radical feminists sprayed graffiti on their offices, accusing them of misogyny and homophobia.

Nueve Norte is a performing theater arts center located at Calle del Norte, 9. The lesbian play La Cena by Eli Navarro was performed at the theater as part of the 2016 Madrid Pride festivities. It had previously appeared at pride in 2013.