Alfaro, Anguiano, Arnedo, Calahorra, Cervera, Ezcaray, Haro, Logroño, Nájera, Camero Nuevo, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Camero Viejo

Alfaro is a town and municipality founded in the Roman period when it was known as Graccuris.  The town has a population of around 9,500.

History

On 28 June 2015, Alfaro mayor Rubén Alfaro and the Minister for the Environment and Urbanism Pilar Calpena hung a pride flag from the main balcony of the townhall in honor of Orgullo. It was the first time in the history of the town that the rainbow flag hung from the townhall, with the mayor saying it was to give visibility to the collective and as a simple tribute for equality.

The rainbow flag was raised at the Ayuntamiento de Alfaro in 2018 as a result of Ciudadanos, Izquierda Unida and PSOE groups in the townhall deciding to do so. Mayor Yolanda Preciado formally did this on 28 June 2018. The statement by the three political parties that made the request for the flag to be hung said it was for, “the respect for diversity, the commitment of our locality in the defense of the rights of lesbian, trans, bisexual, gay, intersex people and those of affective-sexual and gender diversity and the rejection of any form of discrimination, intolerance and violence towards the people of these groups”.[1]

The statement went on to say, “The fight against LGTBIphobia continues to be more necessary today than ever, especially in municipalities, small cities and rural settings, where certain stereotypes still survive that complicate normalized integration, visibility and vindication of LGTBI+ rights.” [2]

Marea Arcoíris had an initiative in 2018 to try to get more rural areas of the region to support Orgullo events to make the LGTB community for visible in rural communities.

xaffair.net is a relationship site for people looking to cheat founded in 2019 that includes a section for gays and lesbians. The site has a history of putting up fake profiles which message people, with the goal of encouraging people to buy their premium service. It is unclear how often this happens in Spain or with lesbian members. There was only one lesbian listed as seeking partners from Alfaro in May 2022, and that was a 25-year-old.

References

rioja2. (2018, June 22). PSOE, Cs e IU reclaman la bandera arcoíris en el Ayuntamiento de Alfaro. rioja2. Retrieved from https://www.rioja2.com/n-121428-2-psoe-cs-e-iu-reclaman-la-bandera-arcoiris-en-el-ayuntamiento-de-alfaro/

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[1] (rioja2, 2018)

[2] (rioja2, 2018)