When it comes to finding the perfect gay-friendly holiday spot, Spain is usually one of the first countries that comes to mind. And it’s no surprise why - recent research has shown that Spain has the highest percentage of non-heterosexual people in Europe, and the country is home to over 27 separate Pride events over the course of the year according to Pink UK.
But with so much of Spain being inclusive and gay-friendly, where are the best places for LGBTQ+ people to go on holiday overall? The travel experts here at Ibiza Summer Villas have been analysing levels of reported hate crime, the number of gay-friendly hotels, gay bars and restaurants, and gay events hosted in different towns and cities around Spain to figure which destinations are the best pick.
To make the ranking fairer, we benched numbers against the total populations of each area to create a ranking of the top locations. This was because higher populated areas tended to have more hate crime incidents, and a larger number of hotels, bars and events overall.
These are the best locations for a gay getaway, according to our data.
Top 10 most LGBTQ+ friendly holiday destinations
1. Maspalomas, Gran Canaria
Maspalomas is a world-renowned gay-friendly destination. The resort town has a population of around 36,000 people, which makes it significantly smaller than cities like Barceolona and Madrid. Even so, Maspalomas hosts significantly more gay bars and restaurants - at least 22 of them dotted round the resort, and hotels than most other destinations in the country, and ranked second on our list in terms of nightlife.
Maspalomas Pride and International Carnival attracts almost 300,000 people over the course of its 10 days of shows and events, with plenty of other gay events happening at other points in the year too like Winter Pride in November, and regular drag shows to keep you entertained year-round.
There are over 1.1m people living in the province of Las Palmas, and 14 reported incidents of hate crime across 12 months. This makes the likelihoodl of a queer person being targeted in Maspalomas - which accounts for only around 3% of the population, fairly low.
2. Torremolinos, Andalusia
Torremolinos takes the number two spot in our top 5, with a bustling and vibrant gay community that attracts LGBTQ+ people from across the world. The resort town has at least 26 gay bars situated mostly on its main strip, and the town’s population is almost double the size of Maspalomas or Sitges, making it a lively community. Still, there is no shortage of gay-friendly hotels here as Torremolinos ranked fourth on our list in terms of how much available accommodation there was.
Torremolinos is perhaps the best location in Spain for finding gay events. It’s not limited to its annual Pride event - which already attracts over 40,000 people, as it has a host of popular gay activities taking place all year-round including its Infinity event in October, its Winter Pride in November, or its 5 day Easter festival “Semana Santa” which happens in April.
There were just 3 reported incidents of hate crime in the province encompassing Torremolinos across a 12 month period, meaning it ranked more highly in terms of safety.
3. Ibiza, Balearic Islands
Ibiza is an internationally acclaimed nightlife spot, known for its world-leading club nights, DJ events and beautiful weather. But the island doesn’t yet have the full recognition it deserves for being a top spot for inclusive, LGBTQ+ friendly spaces. There was just one reported incident of hate crime across the Balearic Islands across 12 months, making Ibiza a safe spot for queer people to be themselves.
With at least 22 gay bars situated around Ibiza - mostly around its Old Town, it spoils for choice. The only gay club is Lola’s, but other venues across the island host very gay-friendly events such as Glitterbox where sexual orientation is never paid attention to. In the south of the island you can find Es Cavallet, a gay nudist beach, and it’s in the south of the island that most of the LGBTQ+ life takes spirit.
Ibiza Pride launched in 2015 and it’s now one of the biggest Pride events in Europe, with open-air parties and celebrations taking place in different areas like San Antonio and Ibiza Town’s port area, attracting around 50,000 people.
4. Sitges, Catalonia
Sitges celebrates queer culture every year with its massive Sitges Pride festival which brings more than 45,000 people to the small town, situated just a stone’s throw from Barcelona. The celebration hosts more than 80 free events, making it a hotspot for LGBTQ+ friendly activities. Sitges is also famous within Spain for its Carnaval celebration, where it showcases bright and colourful costumes, exuberant drag culture and plenty of gay events.
And if you’re looking for the best gay nightlife in Spain, Sitges should be at the top of your list as the resort has at least 33 different gay bars and clubs to visit - the most of any destination in the country.
The province of Barcelona, where Sitges is located, had 79 incidents of hate crime across the entire area on the basis of sexual orientation. This number is shocking, but with over 5.5m people in the province and less than 1% of its population living in Sitges, the likelihood of a hate crime occurring here is low.
5. Barcelona
Known for its blend of beautiful beaches and bustling cosmopolitan streets, Barcelona is a popular spot among LGBTQ+ people with over 40 major queer events throughout the year. The Spanish capital also has over 40 LGBTQ+ bars scattered throughout it, and hundreds of LGBTQ+ friendly hotels to choose from.
There were 79 incidents of homophobic hate crime reported in the province of Barcelona across 12 months, but only a small percentage of these were recorded in the city of Barcelona itself.
Top tips to make gay travel safe in Spain
While Spain is already an extremely welcoming and inclusive country for LGBTQ+ people - the fourth best country in the world according to the Equality Index, there are obviously hacks and tricks we can make use of to ensure our holidays are as seamless as possible.
These are our top 5 tips for making gay travel within Spain safer:
Use LGBTQ+ apps for making connections and finding information
Download apps like Grindr, Scruff, and GayCities to meet other LGBTQ+ people and find local gay-friendly spots, events, and activities. These apps provide valuable real-time insights into safe and popular areas, information on the best events happening in your area, and the chance making new friends or connections which is especially useful if you’re a solo traveller.
Know your surroundings
Spain is one of the most progressive countries for LGBTQ+ rights, and public displays of affection are widely accepted in larger cities. However, in more rural areas - like small towns of Galicia or Basque Country for instance, this might not be as well engrained in local culture. In these areas, it’s wise to be cautious as attitudes could be more conservative.
Look up emergency Spanish contacts ahead of time
Spain’s emergency number is 112, for local police it’s 092, and many Spanish cities have LGBTQ+ friendly police units. Always have this information and the address of your accommodation saved on your phone ahead of time before you travel, so you know who to contact and where to go if anything goes wrong. If something does happen, you can ask for an interpreter if you do not understand Spanish, but many Spanish phone operators do speak English.
Stay in LGBTQ+ Friendly Areas
If you’re staying somewhere with many different areas, try to stay in established gay-friendly neighborhoods like Chueca in Madrid or Eixample in Barcelona. These areas are welcoming and have numerous LGBTQ+ bars, clubs, and hotels, making it easier to connect with others and feel secure. If something went wrong, you have a community around you that can help.
Choose LGBTQ+-Friendly Transportation like Uber or Bolt
Use transport services that are known to be LGBTQ+ inclusive, such as Uber or Bolt, where drivers are vetted, and journeys are tracked for safety. Public transport in major cities is generally safe, but ride-hailing apps provide an extra layer of security, especially when traveling late at night or in more rural areas.
Choose Ibiza Summer Villas for your next holiday
Whether you’re looking for a relaxing break to enjoy the beaches and scenery, or you’re in Ibiza for the party scene and world-famous clubs, our luxury villas offer the perfect place to stay in a range of beautiful locations across the island.
Get in touch with us today to find your dream holiday accommodation.
Methodology
- For safety and crime data, we used the most up to date publicly available report from 2017 which looked at hate crimes against individuals based on their sexual orientation in Spain. The data was collected for each Spanish province rather than individual towns and cities, and weighed against population sizes.
- For LGBTQ-friendly properties, we used Misterbnb and Expedia, taking samples of 1 bed, 2 bed, and 3 bed apartments in the month of September to see which areas had the most availability. We weighed availability against population size.
- For gay bars in each area, we did manual research and used websites like https://www.travelgay.com/ to collate numbers.
- For LGBTQ+ events, we used https://www.gaytravel4u.com/ and https://pinkuk.com/events/gay-pride-2024/europe/spain.
