Some 120,000 people, according to the organizers, and some 110,000, according to the Barcelona Urban Guard, have participated this Saturday afternoon in the parade along Paral·lel avenue, from the Parque de las Tres Xemeneies to Plaza Espanya, on the occasion of the Barcelona Pride March 2023. The objective was none other than to make visible and demand more strongly than ever the rights and freedoms of the LGTBI collective.
This year the collective has taken to the streets of the Catalan capital a week before the holding of general elections in Spain that could change the political character of the country and which, according to many of the people who demonstrate in Barcelona, ??could mark , with the rise and an increase in Vox’s ability to influence, a point of regression in the progressive policies that have conquered new spaces of equality in recent years.
The march was attended by numerous citizen entities, companies and nightlife venues, unions and political parties from the left and from the pro-independence sphere who wanted to express their support for this group and renew their commitment in defense of their freedoms.
At the head of the demonstration is the Mayor of Barcelona, ??Jaume Collboni, who has stated that “this year with more reason than ever we must claim and defend the rights that we have worked so hard to achieve.” In fact, due to the current political situation, the organizers of the march and the parties that participate in it coincide in pointing out the “exceptionality” of today’s day at a time that they also describe as “exceptional”.
Faced with the threat of the extreme right, the mayor of Barcelona wanted to vindicate the rights of the collective and remember that “the rainbow flag will never return to the closets”.
Among the politicians attending, in addition to the mayor of the city, several candidates from the general elections such as Meritxell Batet (PSC), Gabriel Rufián (ERC), Aina Vidal (Sumar), Míriam Nogueras (Junts), councilors of the Barcelona City Council , as well as the Minister of Equality and Feminism of the Generalitat, Tània Verge, among other personalities.
The march has started as scheduled at six in the afternoon under the slogan ‘The pride of our lives’ and this year’s mobilization is especially dedicated to LGTBIQ older people.
Throughout the day there have been activities related to Pride Barcelona 2023 in Plaza Universitat and at night more shows will take place on Avenida Maria Cristina, where concerts by musical figures linked to the fight for the rights of the LGTBI collective will bring together everyone. the colective.
In addition, at the Barcelona City Council, and ignoring the request of the municipal Vox group, the Rainbow flag has flown since the very first hour of the morning and throughout the day. The far-right formation had argued that said banner “lacks valid legal recognition as an official symbol in any territorial administration” and that it has a “partial and electoralist” bias. inasmuch as, associated with a part of the citizens identified with said unofficial flag, it is not representative of the majority of citizens who do not belong to that group or do not align with said option”.
The municipal government, through the Commissioner for the Promotion of Childhood, Adolescence, Youth and LGTB I, Javier Rodríguez, has reiterated the character of Barcelona as “an open and proud city at a time when rights are beginning to be in interdicted”.
