Madrid Pride 2025 | Love, Freedom, Speed

"Go, go, go," La Plexy calls from her podium in the middle of the street. With a practiced eye, the drag queen observes the contestants as they run past her and on into an avenue of cheering spectators. On the sidewalks to the left and right, they vie for a glimpse of the evening's stars.

A heat wave is taking over Madrid. The thermometer reads 38 degrees Celsius, but it's much hotter on the narrow street in the central Chueca district. Partly because the densely packed bodies radiate additional heat, and partly because being "hot" is precisely what it's all about. Drag queens in skimpy outfits set the mood with their showmanship. It's about love, freedom, and speed. This evening, the high-heeled shoe race takes place, and it's not for the faint-hearted or the faint-hearted.

His 15-centimeter high heels whirl through the air and over the heated cobblestones. 32-year-old Óscar Gonzáles Betancort lands incorrectly and falls. His competitors tiptoe around him. La Plexy calls out to him, the crowd encourages him to get up. Óscar jumps up and sprints on, with a scraped knee but undiminished fighting spirit. It's the community that carries him and pushes him. Onward and on, one more step and one more step.

This run on July 3rd, in which Óscar runs through Madrid in a miniskirt and high heels, has a special significance. It marks exactly 20 years since Law 13/2005 came into force. This amendment to the Civil Code has since made same-sex marriage legal. On July 3rd, 2005, Spain took a pioneering role in introducing this law. After the Netherlands and Belgium, it was only the third country to grant same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples nationwide.

In the foreword to the amendment, former King Juan Carlos I praised same-sex marriage: "It is now readily accepted that living together as a couple is a means by which the personality of a large number of people develops." He also emphasized the emotional and economic support that same-sex couples provide to each other, which will now receive legal recognition.

Marriage for all is enjoying widespread support in Spain today. According to recent polls, around 80 percent of the population agree that the law is an achievement for society. Almost 70 percent believe it strengthens protection for the LGBTI community. And marriage for all is being embraced: In the past 20 years, more than 75,500 same-sex couples have tied the knot in Spain.

Chueca is the neighborhood in Madrid dominated by the LGBTI community. The metro sign is a rainbow flag, there's a stand selling waffles shaped like penises and vulvas, and numerous sex shops. Designer stores and hip cafés are bustling with locals and visitors. In the San Antón market, businesspeople rub shoulders with families and senior citizens doing their shopping. Chueca is a place for everyone, and the diverse crowd at the high heel race reflects this.

When Óscar arrives in front of La Plexy, everything is at stake. To win, he still has to change. He collected a wig, a dress, and a handbag during the run. Drenched in sweat, he squeezes into the polyester outfit and climbs onto the podium – too late. Another competitor was faster. Nevertheless, Óscar presents himself as "sublime and fabulous," as expected of winners. He puffs and beams on stage with the winner and the third-place finisher before sitting down and drawing attention to his bleeding feet in his ruined shoes.

Óscar grew up on Lanzarote. Back then, he said, he hid. He was afraid. Afraid of being stigmatized, afraid of losing friends. That's why he didn't allow himself to be who he wanted to be and hid who he was. It wasn't until he moved to the mainland at the age of 18 to study engineering that the now 32-year-old came out. "When I set foot in Valencia, I told myself: This is my new life, and I'm not going to start my new life by hiding." This experience shaped Óscar, and today he tries to help everyone who finds themselves in a similarly insecure situation as he once was. An important message for him is that you have to let go of people who don't support you. They aren't worth oppressing yourself for. "You can only live your life when you feel safe," he says. And that's what he's doing now.

He's participated in the high heel race twice before, even winning in 2017. Then he returned to the Canary Islands, where he first worked as director of Tenerife Airport and now works in Gran Canaria. He loves the Carnaval de Canarias, and he loves Madrid Pride . He's excited to be able to combine this year's race with his trip to a wedding in northern Spain, but was worried he'd miss it because his flight was delayed. He came straight from the airport, he says. "The atmosphere here is amazing. The people radiate pure love. You feel free, you feel supported. It's such a great feeling. I recommend everyone come and take part in the race."

Nicole, who stands next to him in third place on the podium, also shares this experience of community and acceptance. Born in Venezuela, she left her homeland for political reasons at the age of 22 and has lived in Madrid ever since. The 33-year-old is a trained journalist but has so far supported herself in Spain with other jobs, including in the restaurant industry. She is currently unemployed, but that doesn't seem to worry her on this glorious Thursday: "I live very well. I know that one day I will work in the field I trained in and that I love—just the way I am."

As a trans woman, she participates in everything that brings visibility. "Pride isn't just a celebration. It's there to show our worth and that we all have a place in this world." For the same reason, she believes same-sex marriage is important. "We love everyone, not just heterosexuals." Although there have been comparatively great achievements in Spain, she still sees problems here. Especially as a trans woman: "Many see us trans women as monsters, but we're not monsters; we're human beings who want to be free." She feels challenged to defy the frustrated people. This also fills her with pride, and that helps her keep going.

While Nicole describes her struggles as a trans woman, Alex and Francisco observe the events from the side of the road. They, too, have had their own experiences with social acceptance. The two live in Madrid and Berlin and are happy to be able to celebrate this Pride weekend with their friends here in Spain. Especially because they are observing a negative development in Germany: " With the new government, Germany is taking a step backward. You can see that in the fact that the rainbow flag is no longer flown at the Reichstag, which is really, really bad," says Alex. The 51-year-old worries that the achievements of the past years will be lost. "We're always fighting," his friend Francisco chimes in: "Sometimes it gets better, sometimes worse. We try to deal with it and move on."

For the two of them, marriage is primarily a rational decision: "I don't think marriage is necessary for a relationship. But it's good for giving each other more rights," says Alex. He views marriage critically because it's associated with religion and heterosexual people. "But it gives the partner more security, and that's what it's good for." However, for 31-year-old Francisco, the aspect that matters most is that they can make the decision themselves whether or not to get married, and that it won't be taken away from them by others.

Loud bangs echo through the street as the slowly dispersing spectators of the race open and close their colorful fans in unison. Alex laughs, and Francisco joins in. He says he wouldn't participate in the high-heel race. His memory of 16 agonizing hours in a Berlin club wearing them is too painful. He laughs about the experience: "Not for me!"

"Only when you feel safe can you live your life."

Oscar Gonzáles Betancort