So we are moving to a new neighborhood today.  We have a larger apartment with a balcony and plenty of parks nearby.  It is still in the Center of Madrid, but in a slightly quieter area.  We will be within walking distance to the Latina neighborhood where Sundays are a blast.  The streets are full of terrazas and everyone is out for tapas and beer.

The neighborhood is called Madrid de los Austrias (or the Madrid of the Habsburgs).  This area is famous for its architecture and the growth of the Spanish Capital during its Golden Age.  The most famous construct being the Plaza Mayor.  The streets are narrow, the restaurants old, and the parks beautiful.  We will be right on the outskirts of the area, near the Royal Palace.  In fact, I’ll be able to see the Cathedral on the Royal Grounds from my balcony. 

I’ll let you know how it goes, and what the neighborhood is like as time goes on.

El Pais reports on the week say that most hotels in the Centro are filled and that many are reporting that up to 80% of the visitors are gay.  As the paper says, it may be that the city has finally seen the “vein” of cash.  So in next year’s budget will be some 500,000 euros set aside to promote LGBT tourism.  Here is part of the story in Spanish:

Muchos se quejan de que la Comunidad y el Ayuntamiento nunca han promovido estas fiestas ni el turismo gay por razones ideológicas. Pero debe ser que los políticos madrileños han visto el filón, porque este año Comunidad y Ayuntamiento ambos han firmado un acuerdo de colaboración para que el año que viene haya medio millón de euros de dinero público con el fin de promocionar este tipo de turismo. El presupuesto con el que contaba este año la Asociación de Empresas y Profesionales para Gays y Lesbianas de Madrid, la encargada de este cometido, era solo de 30.000 euros.

También los organismos han colaborado en hacer un hueco a esta asociación en las ferias de turismo de numerosas capitales mundiales, aunque la promoción todavía debe mejorar. Casi todos los extranjeros con los que ha hablado este diario, como Patrick y Allen, una pareja de tortolitos checos, conocen el evento a través de páginas no oficiales de la Red, o a través de amigos, como en el caso de Luc Van Dam, un holandés cuyo ex novio español le mantenía siempre informado.

 

Through September 20, the Thyssen will be holding a special Matisse exhibition that really is a thrilling opportunity to see some wonderful art.  Matisse has always been my favorite artist of his period (maybe better left unsaid around these parts).  It has been getting great reviews and you should take the opportunity to get out of the heat and enjoy some beautiful art.  Here is the information on the exhibit from the wonderful city site:

The period covered by the exhibition is marked by the shadow of the First World War and the menace of the second one, a phase of great importance as regards the dissemination and consolidation of modern art, in which Matisse played a crucial role.

The exhibition intends to show how the artist expanded the scope of his pictorial investigation during this period, focusing on the relation between drawing, colour, volume and space. After Cubism changed the traditional way in which perspective was represented, Matisse decided to make his own interpretation of space in painting. Although during the previous ten years his work had been characterised by flatness, at this point he started showing interest in the weight, density and depth of the figures.

• Starting: 06/09/2009
• Ending: 09/20/2009
• Where: Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
• Resting day: Monday
• Ticket sales: Advance ticket sales at Museum ticket office; www.museothyssen.org/entrada; www.entradas.com; Tel: 902 488 488.
• Schedule: Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 7pm; closed on Monday. During July and August, Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 11pm.
• Price: General admission to the permanent collection, EUR6; reduced admission, EUR4. Matisse (1917-1942) exhibition, general admission, EUR5; reduced admission, EUR3.50. General admission for both exhibitions, EUR9; reduced admission, EUR5. Reduced admission for students and over 65s. Free admission for under 12s.

Later we went to Plaza del Rey for the cultural festival portion of the festivities (this is where I finally got to practice my Spanish in front of an audience).  There was a much smaller crowd and a really pleasant atmosphere.  Afterwards, we had dinner with LGBT activists and leaders from around the country at the very nice Jardin restaurant.  

Tonight, the party continues.  The Madonna-directed documentary will be premiering for the first time in Spain and tomorrow comes Mr Gay Spain.  I have back stage passes for both events, so I’ll let you know how it goes.  

There is so much going on all week in the Chueca and surrounding area that you really should check out the official site, or the city’s official information page, available in English.  Find out about the high heel race, the month-long cultural festival, and the chill out planned in the Parque de Buen Retiro.  And if you like diva pop, you should check out Kyle Minogue at Ventas, the bullring not far from the very center of the city.  

Gay or straight, this is all stuff you should not miss as a tourist in Madrid.  It can be argued that Madrid puts on one of the best of these sorts of celebrations anywhere in the world.  Even the National Geographic couldn’t miss the wonder that is Pride Madrid:

It boasts Western Europe’s largest Royal Palace and its most audacious gay pride parade

The amazing this is that it is all done without any money from the city or provincial governments for a relatively small amount of money, around 300,000 euros.  

The big day will be Saturday of course, for the parade and festival.  I’ve not had a chance to spend much time with my friends, but I do hope to get to be with them to watch the parade.  I hope you will be joining us.

Always another option for cooling down

The weather in the Spanish capital continues to run hotter than usual.  Normal temperatures at this time of year are in the low 80s.  We have consistently been in the mid to upper 90s.  The daily sunshine is bright and strong and their is little relief at night.  There are times when one would kill for a bit of a breeze.  So what to do in this kind of heat, especially during the parties and festivities of Madrid’s Orgullo Festival.  

I’ve learned to dress much more appropriately for the heat.  The typical American wardrobe of a pair of blue jeans and maybe a polo shirt or t-shirt just is too warm and uncomfortable.  You really need to find very light and very breathable clothing.  Light cotton, linen, and hats can be terrifically helpful.  I have even gone full bore European and wear what some might call Capri pants (the 3/4 length pants that are seen all over the place).  Why do you wear them, well, it’s cooler!

It felt strange being in SF again, like I had never left and like I had been away for years.  I´ve only been gone less than a year, so I suppose that is not a strange feeling, but Madrid does feel like home right now.  Who knows, if my visa is not renewed, I may be back in a few months anyway!

I came back to Madrid to see my friend Stuart Milk, who, as most of you know, is the nephew of Harvey Milk.  Stuart was swinging back to the US after opening gay pride in Istanbul.  Apparently the city had brought out the riot police and street tanks to stop the parade, but it was finally allowed to continue.  Congrats to Stuart on his courage and leadership.  Stuart is being slammed with interview requests from all over Madrid and Europe, so we have done almost no touring, but I am glad I was able to hook him up with the media here.  It´s very important that the message that Harvey carried continues today.

If you can read Spanish, here is the link to the El Pais story on Stuart.  Tonight he will be receiving the Muestra T award and I will be giving my first gay rights speech in Spanish (very short).  I am so used to doing speeches and television, but in another language, it will be interesting to see how it feels.  Barcelona and the rest of the country had their parties last weekend, but Madrid is this week.  It is one of the biggest in the world, with more than 1,000,000 participants (compared to 60,000 in Barcelona).  If you don´t think of Madrid as an LGBT tourist spot, you really should.

The City by the Bay

I haven’t been in the US for about 7 months now, and I’m looking forward to seeing my friends and old haunting grounds.  I have not really experienced the homesickness that a lot of expats talk about, but here are some things I am looking forward to:

• See the ocean and bay
• a good pizza
• cooler weather and avoiding the upcoming 100+ degree heat wave that is coming to Madrid
• watching a baseball game
• wind

Can you think of any more?

Madrid is interesting when it is hot. My apartment is actually pretty cool in temperature, I have an interior unit without a lot of sunlight and it just hasn’t heated up that much. So, I, like many in the city who can, will work from home today. Since my day generally includes talking to India in the AM, Spain in afternoon, and the US and Paraguay later in the day, the schlep to the office on a day like this is a nice option. Not sure my boss likes that I take it, but its effing 100 degrees!

So when I went out with the dog to buy the paper and a pack of smokes, the streets were pretty quiet. There is a distinct difference in the shade. But tonight is when the streets will be alive.

I still remember my first time in Madrid about 6 years ago. It was a day like this, and I had arrived late in the afternoon by train from Malaga. I took a nap. The city streets were pretty empty at 7 PM, but when I woke up at 2 AM and looked out the window, the streets had come alive. Like rush hour anywhere else in the world.

Tonight there will be people out all over the streets. There will be botellones in the plazas. Botellones are (illegal) outside drinking parties, mostly youth, who are getting blasted early in the evening so that they can save their money to go to the dance clubs later at night. The clubs really won’t start hopping until about 4 AM. Restaurants will be full from 10 or 11 PM onward, filled with families, including babies and toddlers. The entire city will be out and strolling.

Fuencarral Street, a fashionable and hip street near the gay neighborhood is being turned into a pedestrian only zone and is almost done. So a lot of people will be out there too.

I will be with the crowds. Sweating, walking, bringing the dog, swigging a beer on a terraza and being thankful for a perfect madrid night like this.

Plaza Cheuca, Madrid's Gay Heart

LesGaiCineMad Spanish Film Market (SFM) is an event that will take place for the first time as part of Madrid’s 14th International LGBT Film Festival (LesGaiCineMad)

LESGAICINEMAD IS BECOMING A STRONG PRESENCE WITHIN THE INDUSTRY AND IS CATCHING UP WITH THE LEADERS IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET

Organized by Fundación Triángulo, LesGaiCineMad is one of the world’s most important independent film festivals, clearly positioned on the map of international festivals and events related to the 7th Art. With 14 years of professional history, 9 venues, and 120 movies, LesGaiCineMad will for the first time bring together members of the international LGBT film industry in a space of exchange, education, and business that will take place at LesGaiCineMad Spanish Film Market (SFM), coordinated by Spanish director Mariel Macia.

This first edition of Spanish Film Market (SFM) is born with the objective of supporting and promoting the production of independent cinema. “The international industry has been with us,” says Mariel Maciá, head of Industry & Market at LesGaiCineMad, “in each edition for the last 14 years. We believe that acknowledging their presence, haviing independent LGBT cinema professionals mix and network to create new projects and business, and structuring their visit so that they share their experience and knowledge with Spanish directors is the next step that our festival should take.” A logical evolution if we consider that LesGaiCineMad yearly attracts over 20,000 viewers and directors from all over the world; a circumstance that in previous editions made it possible to count on the presence of respected figures such as Pedro Almodóvar, Bruce LaBruce, and Barbara Hammer among others. Following the San Sebastián, Valladolid and Sitges’ film festivals, LesGaiCineMad is one of the cinematographic events with the most media coverage.

Mariel Macia, who has recently joined the festival team to accomplish new objectives, is a movie and theater director, producer, and distributor who has won several awards and international recognition. Since her short film “Flores en el parque” opened at LesGaiCineMad’s 2006 edition obtaining the Best Short Film and Best Spanish Movie Awards, her work has been featured at film festivals around the world, making her one of LGBT cinema’s role models. Later, with the opening of “A domicilio (o incluso también el amor)” and obtaining her second Best Short Film Award at LesGaiCineMad the next year, Mariel has had the opportunity to travel the world through the presentation of her work at LGBT film festivals which has given her the contacts, hope, and ambition to translate her experience into the local market.

For this first edition, LesGaiCineMad Spanish Film Market (SFM) will get important filmmakers, distributors, and programmers together.

1. SFM will provide its participants a selection of Spanish movies produced from 2006 to today, in DVD format with English subtitles. The same movies will also be viewable at SFM Booths – located at the SFM Meeting Point. The films participating in the official selection of the Festival will also be available.
2. SFM will organize debates, seminars and meetings with renowned international professionals dedicated to the production and distribution of LGBT contents.
3. SFM will create a meeting point (SFM Meeting Point) where all participants will meet, organize reunions and see movies at SFM Booths.

All these activities will be presented at Frameline 2009, the San Francisco LGBT Film Festival, to give this project its initial boost.

Independent cinema is growing strongly. Throughout these years it has obtained a privileged place within the national and international scene and also a bigger sector within the actual cinematographic market. The movie industry is transforming and adapting to the new times finding the niches that have been exploited in the international market for a long time. As a response to these challenges, LesGaiCineMad has created this new platform to promote and professionalize the LGBT independent cinema in the framework of its 14th edition.

Partido Popular leader Mariano Rajoy

Turn out was low by Spanish standards for the European Parliament elections, seen by some as a test of how well the government would fare in a deep recession.  The center right party, Partido Popular (People´s Party) beat the ruling Socialist Party by just under 4%.  The PP gained 1 more seat than before and only 1% higher percentage of the vote from the last EU election.  The PSOE socialists lost 5% and 4 seats.

Center Right parties won all over Europe in an election marked by low turn-out and fought more on national issues than European issues.  For many Europeans the Parliament is distint and misunderstood.

The PP leader Mariano Rajoy needed to do well in this election to continue support for his leadership, and the party is celebrating, though it does not seem to be a particularly impressive win, given the depth of the Spanish recession, whose unemployment is the highest of all the major European economies.

Socialist leader José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero lost nearly 500,000 votes from the last EU election, but does not appear to be fatally wounded by the election results.  It is the first victory for Mariano Rajoy in a national election agains Prime Minister Zapatero since 2000.