Transformer Apartment

Inspired by the space-saving furniture on yachts, a Barcelona man turned his 250 square feet apartment into a "Lego-style" living space.

SPAIN: Pope Blesses Anti-Gay Rally

Yesterday Pope Benedict spoke via satellite from the Vatican to bless the hundreds of thousands gathered at a massive annual anti-gay marriage rally in Madrid. The rally was sponsored by the Archdiocese of Madrid with the support of the Popular Party, Spain's right-wing movement which has vowed to overturn same-sex marriage.

Organized by the Archdiocese of Madrid and Cardinal Antonio Rouco Varela under the motto ‘The Christian Family: the hope of Europe,’ the event began at 10 AM in the Plaza de Colon. The cardinal, in the company of fifty bishops from Spain, France, The Netherlands, and as far away as Poland, celebrated Mass on an elevated dais that was surmounted by a white cross some sixty feet tall. Also present were the thousands of lay people, including small children, representing not only Spain, but also various other countries and represented by their national flags. Bishop José Ignacio Munilla of San Sebastian called on participants to offer “testimony that encourage us, because what is being offered in the media is an untruthful model of unstructured family. We want a real family model that encourages us, testimony from exemplary families. Secondly, prayer that is offered communally has a very special power and the more people united in communion the more power there will be to foster a stable family.”

The below clip is from the Vatican's official YouTube channel.

SPAIN: Voting Is A Pleasure

Spain's Young Socialists of Catalonia party is raising eyebrows with this orgasmic GOTV ad.

A spokesman for the conservative Convergence and Union Party, Josep Antoni Duran Lleida, called the ad “crude” and suggested it might somehow discourage voters from turning out. Bibiana Aido, Spain’s equality minister, who is a Socialist, admitted that the ad was “misleading,” although, she added, “if it was true, electoral participation would go up greatly.” The leader of Catalan’s Green Party, Joan Herrera, agreed that the ad was not terribly realistic, suggesting that it would be “very difficult to reach orgasm voting for any of the candidates, myself included.”

SPAIN: Drag Queen Heckles Anti-Gay Opposition Leader Mariano Rajoy

Spain's right-wing People's Party opposition leader Mariano Rajoy has filed a constitutional challenge to marriage equality and has vowed to repeal the law should he become prime minister in 2012. A drag queen showed up at Rajoy's book launch to let him know what she thought.

(Tipped by JMG reader Ejaaz)

Photo Of The Day - Barcelona Pope Kiss-In

Hundreds of homos staged a protest kiss-in as the Pope-Mobile passed in Barcelona today.


(Tipped by JMG reader Jimmy)

SPAIN: Catalonians Set World Record In Lip-Dub Clip Supporting Independence

From the English portion of the clip description, which is in eight languages:

Lip dub for the independence of Catalonia and the rest of the Catalan Countries, recorded October the 24th 2010 in the city of Vic. Achieving a total amount of 5.771 participants, the World Records Academy awarded the World Record for being the lip dub with highest participation ever. The initiative was born by a group of Catalans, whose aim is to let the whole world know that Catalonia is a nation, and without its independence it cannot be assured its survival and future. The chosen song was composed by the group "Obrint Pas" and its title is "La Flama".

Read more about the Catalan secession movement.

(Tipped by JMG reader Chrisafer)

Safe Sex

Spain's hookers are required to wear reflective safety vests when they work in traffic. No vest = 40 Euro fine.

All Hail Paul, The Psychic Octopus

After he accurately predicted the winner in six straight matches, Spain's Minister of Fisheries says he will ask the German government to ensure that Paul The Octopus is never eaten and will be allowed to die naturally of boredom during the next World Cup.

Daily Ungrumble

After just a few more hours we won't have to hear about soccer for another four years. Of course, there's one aspect of the sport that isn't entirely boring.

BARCELONA: One Million March For Catalan Independence

Spain's constitutional court declared on Friday that there is no legal basis to consider its Catalonia region an autonomous nation, sending over one million protesters into the streets of Barcelona yesterday.

The verdict came after four years of debate in which conservative and liberal judges locked horns over whether the charter went beyond the limits of Spain's system of granting varying degrees of self-rule to its 17 regions. The Catalan region's statute of autonomy, which was earlier approved by the Spanish parliament and endorsed by Catalan voters in a 2006 referendum, gave the regional parliament enhanced powers in taxation and judicial matters as well as more control over airports, ports and immigration. The court approved in June most of Catalonia's statute of autonomy but changed some of the most controversial points, drawing the anger of the government of the nationalist-minded region. The statute has the support of most political parties in Catalonia, where a sizeable minority would like to see the wealthy region, which has its own language and distinct culture, break away from Spain.

According to the above-linked article, Catalonia has only 7% of Spain's population but represents more than a quarter of its economy.

The All Marriage Equality World Cup

Several readers have written to note that Sunday's World Cup final will be between Holland and Spain and will be played in South Africa. All three nations grant full marriage equality rights to their LGBT citizens. That's pretty cool, eh?

UPDATE: A reader in Italy sends us his map of this year's World Cup participants and the status of marriage rights in each country. Embiggen for details.

Madrid's High Heels Race

Similar to one staged annually in DC.

(Tipped by JMG reader Alja)

Tweet Of The Day - Maggie Gallagher

Slaggie blogs:

A new study by a Spanish gay rights group reports that about 10,000 gay marriages have taken place since Spain legalized gay marriage in 2007. Spain has about 30 million people in 2008 over the age of 15. If 3 percent of the population is homosexual, that would be about 900,000 gay and lesbian adults. So 20,000 gay people have chosen to marry so far -- about 2 percent of gay adults. Why so few?

Theories abound regarding the low rate of gay marriages in places where it's legal. A populace not emotionally trained to expect the possibility of marriage, a distaste for the heteronormative institution itself, etc etc.

SPAIN: Government Investigating "Gay Cure" Clinic, May Impose Fines

The Catalan government is investigating a Barcelona clinic that is alleged to be performing "gay cures" and may impose fines on the business.

Policlinica Tibidabo in the Catalan capital offers pills and psychiatric "treatment" to convert homosexuals. Spain's leading daily El Pais said people who wanted to be treated are often followers of a particular religion which believes homosexuality is incompatible with their beliefs. "An investigation has been opened into this clinic," a spokeswoman for the regional government's health department told AFP. "We do not consider homosexuality as an illness, far from it." She said the clinic could face fines if the month-long probe concludes that such treatments are being carried out. A gays and lesbian rights association in Catalonia, the CGL, hailed the decision of the regional authorities. "It is totally unacceptable, in the 21st century, that health professionals are trying to treat homosexuality," CGL secretary general Antonio Guirado said in a statement. "You cannot treat something that is not an illness."

Kudos to the Catalan government. Meanwhile in America, Christianist brainwashing "ex-gay" camps and evangelical "exorcisms," which are nothing short of mental and physical torture, continue to be perfectly legal.

FLOTILLA FALLOUT: Madrid Pride Cancels Israeli Parade Float

Madrid Pride has announced that they are canceling the appearance of an Israeli group in their parade over heightened security concerns since the Gaza flotilla raid.

The Israeli delegation, made up of members of the LGBT association and the Foreign Ministry, was scheduled to run an Israeli "bus" in the parade, for the first time since its establishment. But the delegation has recently received hints from Spain that their arrival may cause anger among local pro-Palestinian groups, which may require excess security and, more importantly, cause a lot of embarrassment. The organizers' fears peaked with the emergence of anti-Israel protests following the IDF raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, and on Monday they cited lack of security for the cancellation. Sources close to the affair say the decision was also affected by a number of anti-Israeli groups.Community reps expressed their deep disappointment by Madrid's decision. Chairman of the LGBT Union in Israel, Mike Hamel told Ynet, "We regret the fact that the pride organizations in Madrid have decided to focus on issues that have nothing to do with the community. The Union was invited as a non-political organization. This is a missed opportunity for dialogue."

The Israel Foreign Ministry called the cancellation "an ugly scandal that turns the pride parade into a shame parade."

It's A Bad Year For Matadors

Late last month a Spanish matador was grievously injured in Mexico, prompting renewed calls around the world to ban the "sport." And yesterday in Madrid another matador was gored so grotesquely that many newspapers in Europe are under fire for having published a [WARNING!] horrific photo of the incident. I won't post the photo here, but some animal rights activists say that people DO need to see it. Again, you may not want to click on that photo link.

Spain Gives The Middle Finger To AIDS

Andres Duque at Blabbeando directs us to the below safe sex campaign from Spain which has just won a coveted Summit International Award for advertising. Andres translates the opening of the clip: "To you, who has fucked us during so many years, who CRUSH us all, young people, older people, women, men, heterosexuals and homosexuals. To you, ABOMINABLE being... we say...FUCK YOU, AIDS!"

Bull To Matador: Ole' THIS

One of the world's most famous matadors was brutally injured during a bullfight in Mexico this weekend, prompting renewed calls to ban the "sport." You may not want to watch this.

Barb@zul - I Don't Care

JMG reader Hector writes from Sitges to tip us to the latest release from Barcelona bear dance duo Barb@zul. Lots of beefcake within, possibly NSFW. Bonus points for a short tour of Barcelona's bar scene. More performance clips from Barb@zul at their YouTube channel.

Quote Of The Day - Bernando Alvarez

"There are 13 year old adolescents who are under age and who are perfectly in agreement with, and what’s more wanting it, and if you are careless they will even provoke you." - Tenerife Bishop Bernando Alvarez, blaming child molestation on the victims. Alvarez' comments have ignited a firestorm of condemnation in Spain.