laura bautista
Maspalomas (Gran Canaria) (EFE).- Marco Gomes, from Lisbon, met his partner six months ago in Gran Canaria, today they have returned to the island that brought them together to celebrate their relationship at the freest and most diverse party: Maspalomas Pride, which this year expects to exceed all attendance expectations.
The party that settled in the south of the island ten days ago has taken to the streets of Maspalomas this Saturday, to fill with color a party that shines for its pride, which does not understand genders, ages, nationalities or labels.
The Maspalomas Pride by Freedom is a party to be, and for Marco and his partner also to love, where more than twenty countries come together and that in this 2023 has achieved the highest number of floats in its history.
On its big day, Maspalomas Pride has been synonymous with contagious joy, glitter, and multicolored flags that do not understand borders to serve as a meeting point for more than 100,000 people.
Cosmas Soekiman is from Indonesia, “there the police persecute us, here they protect us”, so it is an appointment that he does not miss every year, and to which he returns with more enthusiasm than ever after the restriction due to the pandemic.
Enjoy the party with a group of 16 people, who come from various places in Europe, and also from Thailand and even Malaysia. “It has been a very long flight for a big party, which is worth all the hours on the plane,” their friends say.
Frederic Paste and Sandrine Cormier are from France, although they currently live in the south of Gran Canaria. It is the third time they have come to Maspalomas Pride, “the people are great, the freedom, everything is very easy here”, celebrates Frederic.
He is adorned with hundreds of diamonds in a suit that he has made with his own hands, stone by stone and during a week of preparation.
He works later in a bar, but it is something he did not want to miss and he assures that “he will take advantage of all the hours until he goes to work” because he has arrived “with the desire to enjoy and have a good time”.
Multicolored suits, hairnets, a lot or a little clothing, heart-stopping heels and dizzying platforms, everyone experiences Maspalomas Pride in their own way, with the common goal of celebrating freedom.
That is the goal of Ybriex, from France, who spent more than two months working on a suit that is bigger than him and that steals all eyes.
Everyone wants a photo with him, and he poses proudly with his creation which, as he has defined, is “the expression of love”, because Maspalomas Pride “is to shine with pride”.
It is a “moving sculpture”, as he has described it, since he has opted for a set for this “fun art” party.
Although not one more stone fits in her dress, she assures that “there is always room for more details”, and when she says it, she smiles happily as she hugs everyone who approaches to take a picture by her side.
Not all of them are from abroad, María García and Laura Medina come from the municipality of Telde in Gran Canaria to “enjoy a party that we repeat every year”. They have reserved a float with a group of friends, and they are ready to “enjoy to the fullest” and “proud” of Maspalomas Pride, they affirm emphatically.
At 5:00 p.m. the party started with all its strength, pride and determination to overwhelm the main streets of Maspalomas with its overwhelming energy. Leading the procession, the girls and boys from the Chrysallis Trans Childhood and Youth Families Association, together with the batucada Rumble Manía, set the pace.
Ahead is a celebratory afternoon with which neither the heat nor the party hours will be able to, up to the epicenter of the LGTBIQ+ community in the Yumbo Shopping Center, where the night will turn into day for the partygoers who can endure the most.
With the parade, djs and artists from Chile, Italy, Brazil and Venezuela, the Maspalomas Pride by Freedom faces the final stretch after 11 days and 11 nights of partying with which it will say goodbye tomorrow Sunday until next year.EFE