Pro Footballer Says He’s Bisexual and Living with Boyfriend in Moving Open Letter

PINK NEWS: An anonymous footballer has written about his bisexuality in the wake of Australian pro player Josh Cavallo proudly coming out as gay.

Cavallo, 21, was praised for his courage and bravery after sharing his truth last month, becoming the only current openly gay male player playing professional top-flight football.

His actions have inspired another footballer to open up about his sexuality, according to Mundo Deportivo, a Spanish national sports newspaper that published a letter from an anonymous pro.

Bisexual footballer: ‘At least for now, I do not want to say who I am’

The athlete, a member of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, has not chosen to come out publicly as the “message itself is more important than the name”.

In the letter, the footballer also reveals that he is living with his boyfriend of more than three years. » | Josh Milton | Monday, November 1, 2021

Behind a Top Female Name in Spanish Crime Fiction: Three Men

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Carmen Mola, a novelist publishing under a pen name, seemed to shatter a glass ceiling in the world of Spanish books. But when the author’s true identity was revealed while claiming a big prize, it was a shock.

Jorge Díaz, Antonio Mercero and Agustín Martínez receiving the Planeta prize for their novel “La Bestia,” written under the pseudonym Carmen Mola. | Josep Lago/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
MADRID — In a literary world long crowded with successful men, some held up the popularity of Carmen Mola as an example that times were changing in Spain.

Publishing under a pseudonym, the writer produced a detective trilogy with an eccentric female police inspector as the protagonist, plumbing the underworld for clues to crimes. The public was led to believe Carmen Mola was a married, female professor who lived in Madrid, but knew little else.

The mysteries, both within the plots of the novels and surrounding the author’s identity, were a recipe for success, selling hundreds of thousands of books in the Spanish-speaking world. But the greatest surprise of all came this month during a ceremony attended by the Spanish king where Carmen Mola was awarded the Planeta Prize, a literary award worth more than a million dollars.

A team of three stepped up to receive the prize. All of them were men. » | Nicholas Casey | Friday, October 29, 2021

£295,000 Bottle of Wine Stolen from Spanish Restaurant’s Cellar

THE GUARDIAN: Owner says 215-year-old Château d’Yquem was among 45 bottles taken by English-speaking man and woman

Bottles of wine in a cellar. The restaurant’s owner said he had not calculated the total value of the stolen bottles, which were insured. Photograph: Régis Duvignau/Reuters
Two thieves stole 45 bottles of wine, including an extremely rare 215-year-old bottle valued at €350,000 (£295,000), from a collection at an upmarket hotel and restaurant complex in south-west Spain, the owner has said.

The theft took place in the early hours of Wednesday, according to José Polo, one of the owners of Atrio, a complex comprising a hotel and a two-Michelin-starred restaurant with a cellar sheltering more than 40,000 bottles in the city of Cáceres.

“They were professionals, they knew exactly what they were doing” Polo said after deciding to make the robbery public through a letter to customers and friends.

The suspects are a man and woman who spoke English and gave staff the impression of being a refined couple, who checked into the hotel and dined at its restaurant. They asked a hotel front desk clerk to serve them more food and when he went to the kitchen, leaving security camera monitors unattended, the man slipped into the cellar and stole the bottles, Polo said. » | Associated Press in Valbuena | Friday, October 29, 2021

Archbishop Apologises for Steamy Video Filmed in Spanish Cathedral

THE GUARDIAN: Video shows rapper C Tangana and singer Nathy Peluso grind against each other inside Toledo Cathedral

The cathedral’s dean said the video presented ‘the story of a conversion through human love’. Photograph: Youtube
The archbishop of Toledo has apologised to offended Roman Catholics after one of Spain’s most famous cathedrals was used as a location for a raunchy video that shows a couple grinding against each other in its hallowed precincts.

The video for Ateo (Atheist) features the Spanish rapper C Tangana and the Argentinian singer Nathy Peluso dancing steamily in Toledo’s 13th-century cathedral, much to the fascination of onlookers, among them a priest.

Elsewhere in the video, a naked but partially pixelated Peluso holds aloft C Tangana’s severed head, and he yanks her hair. The pulling of Peluso’s hair is an echo of one of the paintings inside the cathedral, which shows a demon pulling a woman’s hair to stop her reaching salvation. The painting is also used as the song’s artwork. » | Sam Jones in Madrid | Friday, October 8, 2021

Outrage after Gay Woman Diagnosed at Spanish Hospital with ‘homosexuality’

THE GUARDIAN: LGBT group complains to Murcia government after teenager was given report that included line: ‘Current illness: homosexual’

A Pride march in the Valencia region of Spain. LGBTI activists in Murcia want their regional authorities to apologise over a teenager’s treatment at Reina Sofía hospital, saying some in the health service ‘view sexual orientation as an illness’. Photograph: Biel Aliño/EPA
A family and an LGBT collective in south-east Spain are demanding answers and an apology after a 19-year-old gay woman who visited a gynaecologist over a menstrual condition was diagnosed with “homosexuality”.

On Monday the woman went to an appointment at the Reina Sofía hospital in the city of Murcia. After being examined she was given a piece of paper that included the line: “Current illness: homosexual.”

The woman’s mother told the online paper elDiario.es that the gynaecologist had asked her daughter whether he could include her sexual orientation in his report, and that she had consented – despite her surprise – as she thought at the time it might be relevant.

“At first, I thought it was funny, but it just isn’t,” said the patient. » | Sam Jones in Madrid | Thursday, October 7, 2021

La Palma Volcano: Firefighters Retreat as Eruption Intensifies | DW News

Sep 25, 2021 • Volcanic activity on the Spanish island of La Palma has been intensifying again, prompting authorities to step up evacuations. And with ash clouds rising up to four kilometres high, flights have been cancelled for the first time since the volcano began erupting last weekend. With hundreds of homes already destroyed, the Spanish government is promising help for those affected.

La Palma residents warned of ‘evolution of volcanic emergency’: People evacuated from three towns are told they cannot return as volcano has entered new explosive phase »

Un beso gay español ! Spanish Police Marrying and Kissing in Style and in Full Uniform

It was a first for Spain, and the public loved it!
Many thanks to Out on Pinterest for this super photo. Here you can read about it on Out itself.

Spain Wildfire: Almost 1,000 Emergency Workers Fighting Blaze

THE GUARDIAN: Fire in Andalucía region rages for sixth day having already forced evacuation of thousands of people

Firefighters tackle wildfire near the town of Jubrique in southern Spain. Photograph: Pedro Armestre/AP
Almost 1,000 firefighters and emergency workers are battling one of the most intractable Spanish wildfires in recent years as the blaze rages for a sixth day, after devouring at least 7,400 hectares (18,285 acres) of land in the southern region of Andalucía and forcing the evacuation of more than 2,600 people.

On Sunday, 260 members of Spain’s military emergencies unit were deployed to help tackle the fire, which began last Wednesday in the mountainous Sierra Bermeja above the resort town of Estepona, and which now has a perimeter of 53 miles (85km). Experts hope the rain forecast across much of the country on Monday will help extinguish the blaze.

Investigators say they have evidence that the fire, which claimed the life of a 44-year-old firefighter last Thursday, was started deliberately. Announcing the deployment of the military personnel on Sunday night, the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said the government and its partners “will work together and tirelessly in the face of the fire that is devastating the province of Málaga”. » | Sam Jones in Madrid | Monday, September 13, 2021

Homophobes Carve ‘F****t’ into Man’s Flesh in Horrific Broad Daylight Attack in Madrid

Protesters rally against anti-LGBT+ violence in Puerta del Sol, Madrid after the killing of Samuel Luiz. (Getty)
PINK NEWS: A gang of eight hooded assailants launched a “vicious” attack on a gay man in Madrid, Spain, in broad daylight, carving the word “faggot” on his backside.

Two months after the horrific killing of Samuel Luiz, a 24-year-old gay man, in A Coruña, Spain, sparked international outrage, another homophobic attack has shocked and repulsed Spain.

The 20-year-old victim was assaulted in the Malasaña neighbourhood at around 5:15pm Sunday afternoon (5 September). His attackers sliced him with a knife as they barked “maricón [faggot]” at him outside his apartment complex, Policía Municipal Madrid said according to elDiario, a Spanish-speaking news outlet.

The victim, who has not been named, was returning home when the group “with their faces covered, ran and cornered him” and followed him into the building entrance.

They called him a “s**teater” and “disgusting” as they slit his upper lip. The man later reported the incident at a police station in the capital city.

The level of impunity seemingly felt by the attackers left officials stunned, a police spokesperson told elDiario.

“This is the first assault of this kind we have heard of,” they said.

“The investigation is focusing on CCTV footage and on finding witnesses in order to identify the alleged attackers.” Spain’s prime minister ‘vehemently’ decries homophobic attack that left activists speechless » | Josh Milton | Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Homophobic Attackers in Madrid Carve Antigay Slur Into Victim's Butt »

Snickers Spain Pulls Advert after Accusations of Homophobia

In the advert, an effeminate man who eats a Snickers ice-cream turns into a bearded, low-voiced man who feels ‘better’. Photograph: Frank Baron/The Guardian
THE GUARDIAN: Controversial commercial comes as series of homophobic attacks are reported across Spain

Snickers in Spain has pulled a controversial advertisement and apologised for any “misunderstanding that may have been caused” after the 20-second film was widely condemned for being homophobic.

The advert shows the Spanish influencer Aless Gibaja ordering a “sexy orange juice” while a friend trades puzzled looks with the waiter. The waiter responds by handing Gibaja a Snickers ice-cream bar, and after a bite, Gibaja appears to transform into a bearded man with a deep voice.

“Better?” the friend asks. “Better,” replies the man as the tagline reads: “You’re not yourself when you’re hungry.” » | Ashifa Kassam in Madrid | Friday, August 6, 2021

Spain on a Fork: ¨Better Than Fried¨– Oven-Baked Crispy French Fries

How to Make ¨Better than Fried¨ Oven-Baked Crispy French Fries: Views on YouTube: 569,800

Full recipe »

Revealed: The Secrets of Seville Cathedral’s Banquet Set in Stone

The arch that connects Seville cathedral with its Renaissance sacristy is decorated with 68 carvings of plates of food. Photograph: Juan Clemente Rodríguez Estévez
For almost 500 years, the arch that connects the largest Gothic cathedral in the world with its Renaissance sacristy has offered visitors a sumptuous, if little glimpsed – and even less studied – vision of religious bounty.

The 68 beautifully carved plates of food that adorn the archway in Seville’s cathedral offer rather more than bread and wine.

There are pigs’ trotters and wild strawberries, aubergines, clams and oysters. There are peaches, radishes, a skinned hare with a knife by its side, a squirrel served on a bed of hazelnuts and a plate of lemons across which a small snake slithers. There are also cakes and biscuits and, more exotically, a dish of peppers newly imported from Mexico, which had fallen to Hernán Cortés and his men just over a decade before the carvers set to work.

The plates, which are all too often obscured when the huge wooden doors of the sacristy are open, are the subject of a new book by a Spanish art historian who has spent the past 11 years trying to unpick the secrets and meanings of the cathedral’s stone buffet.

“People don’t really see the carvings because of the doors and because they’re too busy looking at the sacristy dome,” said Juan Clemente Rodríguez Estévez. “But the carvings have been there for 500 years and have never been properly studied. They’ve gone unnoticed apart from being seen as a bit of a novelty.”

The arch, which was carved between 1533 and 1535, provides what Rodríguez calls a “snapshot of a seminal moment”. Its still-life carvings, he suggests, are chapters in the social, religious, economic and cultural history of both Seville and Spain as a whole. » | Sam Jones in Madrid | Monday, July 26, 2021

Spain Pledged Citizenship to Sephardic Jews. Now They Feel Betrayed.

The former Jewish quarter of Segovia, Spain. The country was once home to one of Europe’s most thriving Jewish communities, which for centuries produced major poets, historians and philosophers. Credit...Emilio Parra Doiztua for The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: In 2015, Spain said it would give citizenship to the descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled during the Spanish Inquisition. Then rejections started pouring in this summer.

MADRID — María Sánchez, a retired mental health therapist in Albuquerque, spent the past four decades tracing her Jewish ancestry from Spain. She created a vast genealogical chart going back nearly 1,100 years, which included three ancestors who were tried in the Spanish Inquisition. Her findings even led her to join a synagogue in the 1980s and to become a practicing Jew.

So when Spain’s government said in 2015 that it would grant citizenship to people of Sephardic Jewish descent — a program publicized as reparations for the expulsion of Jews that began in 1492 — Ms. Sánchez applied. She hired an immigration lawyer, obtained a certificate from her synagogue and flew to Spain to present her genealogy chart to a notary.

Then, in May, she received a rejection letter.

“It felt like a punch in the gut,” said Ms. Sánchez, 60, who was told she had not proved that she was a Sephardic Jew. “You kicked my ancestors out, now you’re doing this again.” » | Nicholas Casey | Saturday, July 24, 2021

Francisco Franco - Spain's Nationalist Dictator Documentary

Protests Erupt in Spain after Killing of Samuel Luiz

Jul 9, 2021 • Protests have erupted across Spain after a gay man was killed over Pride weekend.

More on this tragic and heartbreaking story here

Brutal Assault in Barcelona Raises Concerns about Growing Homophobia

EL PAÍS: LGBTQ+ groups are reporting a rise in attacks as the far right makes new inroads in a polarized society

It’s just a few minutes past 10pm on May 29, a Saturday. The scene is Somorrostro beach in the Barceloneta neighborhood of Barcelona, where nightlife venues remain closed due to Covid-19 but the cosmopolitan vibe lives on. Two homosexual couples and a heterosexual couple meet and strike up a conversation as they sit in a circle on the sand. They laugh, drink and chat. Four individuals suddenly approach. “You fucking faggots!” shouts one of them. Another spits at one of the young men. “I’ll cut the throat of anyone who raises an eyebrow!” yells a third.

The threats are followed by a relentless series of punches and kicks. One of the attackers pushes the heterosexual couple aside so they can focus on the four gay men. Israel (not his real name) is knocked to the ground. He tries to get up, but receives a brutal kick in the mouth that leaves him semi-conscious on the sand. His jaw is broken and he has lost several teeth. The other three victims were luckier; despite their injuries, they did not require medical treatment.

The aggression in Somorrostro is one of the most serious attacks against members of the LGBTQ+ community in Barcelona in recent memory. There were two other incidents on the same day, though there is no connection between them. On the morning of June 5, a protest was held in the center of the Catalan capital against any act of hatred against the LGBTQ+ community. “We aren’t familiar with violence such as that of last Saturday in Somorrostro. It is a very serious crime that produced very serious injuries,” said Eugeni Rodríguez, president of Barcelona’s Observatory Against Homophobia (OCH). » | Alfonso L. Congostrina | Barcelona | Wednesday, June 9, 2021

LGBTQ+ Groups Protest across Spain after 24-year-old Beaten to Death

Samuel Luiz, a 24-year-old nurse killed in A Coruña. (R.I.P.)
EL PAÍS: Police have not yet determined the motive of the brutal assault against Samuel Luiz in A Coruña, but the victim’s friends believe it was a homophobic attack

LGBTQ+ groups across Spain arranged street demonstrations on Monday to call for justice for Samuel Luiz, a young nurse who was killed in a brutal attack in the early hours of Saturday morning in the northwestern city of A Coruña in Galicia. While investigators are still working to find the authors of the crime and establish the motive, one of Luiz’s friends has claimed on social media that there was a homophobic motive to the assault, which apparently began outside a nightclub over a misunderstanding involving the 24-year-old victim.

The María Pita square in A Coruña was filled with thousands of people on Monday evening, expressing their support for friends and families of Luiz, who was killed during Pride weekend. The female friends who were accompanying the victim during his final moments were also there. They made public addresses calling for the case to be resolved and requesting respect for the family of the young man, who opted not to come to the protests. » | Caridad Bermeo, Elisa Lois, Marta Pinedo | A Coruña / Pontevedra / Madrid | Tuesday, July 6, 2021

English version by Simon Hunter (Twitter a/c here)

La comunidad LGTBI dice basta »

I first posted on this tragic story in German from the Swiss newspaper, Tages Anzeiger, here

Petition Calls for Smoking Ban on All Spanish Beaches

THE GUARDIAN: More than 283,000 back call to rid Spain’s coastline of smoke and discarded cigarette butts

A petition signed by more than 283,000 people calling on Spain to ban smoking at all its beaches has been delivered to the country’s environment minister.

For more than two years the organisation No Fumadores (No Smokers) has been gathering signatures aimed at transforming Spain’s 3,084 miles (4,964km) of coastline into areas free of cigarette smoke and discarded cigarette butts.

The petition, delivered to the minister Teresa Ribera, calls on the government to introduce national legislation on the issue, Raquel Fernández Megina of No Fumadores said in a statement published on Friday. The hundreds of thousands of signatures gathered, she added, “send the message that we can’t wait any longer”. » | Ashifa Kassam in Madrid | Sunday, May 23, 2021

Islamic 12th-Century Bathhouse Uncovered in Seville Tapas Bar

THE GUARDIAN: Dazzling geometric motifs dating from Almohad caliphate discovered during renovation of city’s bar

A magnificently decorated 12th-century Islamic bathhouse, replete with dazzling geometric motifs and skylights in the form of eight-pointed stars, has emerged, a little improbably, from the walls and vaulted ceilings of a popular tapas bar in the heart of the southern Spanish city of Seville.

Last summer, the owners of the Cervercería Giralda – which has been pouring cañas and copas near Seville’s cathedral since 1923 – decided to take advantage of local roadworks and the coronavirus pandemic to set about a long-delayed renovation.

Although local legend and the odd historical document had suggested the site may once have been an ancient hammam, most people had assumed the Giralda’s retro look was down to the neomudéjar, or Islamic revival style, in which the architect Vicente Traver built the bar and hotel above it in the early 1920s. » | Sam Jones in Madrid | Thursday, February 18, 2021

The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain | A PBS Documentary