Gay Friendly Costa del Sol
scott, January 3rd, 2012 For a long, long time, Spain’s gorgeous Costa del Sol, or “Sun Coast,” was very, very quiet. Except for that business of the Spanish Reconquista pushing out the Moors in the late 1400s, this near-perfect locale changed little for more than a thousand years, its utterly tranquil Mediterranean coastline peppered only with tiny fishing villages, and nary a gay bar to be found.
Then came the 1950s, and the secret of the Costa del Sol got out to the world, in a big, big way. The mid-Andalusian coastline began to lure Northern European types, weary of their long, dark winters and eager to bask in the region’s ever-present sunshine. First came the super-rich and famous (think Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Laurence Olivier), after Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg opened the aristocratic Marbella Club in 1954. The demi-rich and B celebs followed, and gradually the masses–as is their wont–caught wind of the fun and sun, subsequently descending in droves. Through it all, the gays came too, establishing their beachhead at Torremolinos in the 1960s and 70s.
Unfortunately, the switch from sleepy-fishing-village-dotted seashore to frolicksome touristic playground proved too rapid for the area to bear seamlessly. Unsavory types like on-the-lam Brits, the Russian mob, and Arab arms traffickers crept in, earning the region the unwelcome nickname Costa del Crime in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Unsavory Marbella politicians meanwhile took advantage of the instability, pushing through scores of corrupt construction projects before being stopped and ultimately jailed.
Full Story from Passport Magazine
Click here for gay travel resources in Andalusia, Spain.
Categories: Uncategorized aldalucia, andalusia, costa del sol, Spain
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