A full-blown reprimand for the island leader of Primero Canarias (Prica), Teodoro Sosa, was handed down by the Altahay collective, which had been dormant for 20 years and a day. Several leaders in Las Palmas point to the hands of Nueva Canarias in the first attack on the backbone of a BNR that has always been swimming, in terms of the water, with the water in its favor.
Can a municipality compete for international pink tourism without having basic tourist infrastructure? What's the point of such a mess? In Gáldar, in the north of Gran Canaria, Sosa seems to think so. With barely 30 registered hotel beds and 158 vacation rentals—according to data available on platforms like TripAdvisor and tourist registries—the city council has promoted an event called Pride Gáldar, in an attempt as ambitious as it is disconnected from reality.
Industry sources claim that Pride Gáldar is being promoted by suppliers linked to the capital's Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) who fled Las Palmas after the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office cavalry arrived to review their contracts. "The north is now their new testing ground. They've come with the full package: DJs, banners, queens, stages, and shady sponsorships."
The move has caused astonishment even within the tourism sector itself, where some interpret it as an improvised attempt to extract part of the pink business that has been established for decades in the south of the island, especially in San Bartolomé de Tirajana, where Maspalomas Pride generates more than 150 million euros a year and has more than 120.000 international visitors per edition.
Unlike Maspalomas, Gáldar lacks a well-established tourist area, large-scale accommodation, or reception facilities. Calle Larga—a historic artery in the city center—has been decorated in LGBT pride colors for an event held between June 4 and 8, which has drawn criticism even from local groups.
“The town has become a theme park,” denounces the Altahay collective in an open letter criticizing the use of the public space as a permanent backdrop for celebrations that lack heritage roots or educational significance. “We support the rights of the LGBTI+ community, but it's surprising that the town center has been decorated for Pride and nothing visible has been done for Canary Islands Day.”
This isn't the first time the City Council has opted for revitalization models without a structural basis. Events like Gáldar en Flor, with streets filled with Buddhas, gnomes, and plastic flowers, have earned a reputation as a superficial tourist showcase, more oriented toward visitor selfies than a sense of belonging among residents.
Gáldar thus faces the dilemma of other Canary Islands municipalities that want to jump on the tourism bandwagon without having invested in rails. The problem isn't LGBT tourism—which has been a respectful and profitable driver for decades—but rather improvisation and a lack of coordination with entities such as Gran Canaria Tourism or the sector's trade association, which learned about Pride through the press.
