Calpe Town Council has prepared an intense programme of activities for LGTBIQ+ Pride Day. The Calperide, which will have a vindictive and ludic character, will start on June 28th, International LGTBIQ+ Pride Day, and will last until the first days of July.
The event was presented this morning by the mayoress of Calpe, Ana Sala, and the councillors for International Promotion Marco Bittner, for Tourism Planning Mireia Ripoll, for Economic Promotion Paqui Solivelles and the councillor for the Environment and member of the LGTBIQ+ group Pere Moll. Also taking part in the event was Pride Day's town crier Andrea Crespo, also a member of the group, who said she felt "proud to have been chosen" to deliver the proclamation from the balcony of the Town Hall and expressed her wish that events like this will continue to grow over time.
The events will begin with the raising of the LGTBIQ+ flag on 28 June at 11am in Plaza Colón. At 7.30 p.m. there will be a proclamation in Plaza Miguel Roselló, followed by a march to Plaza Colón with a batukada, a vindictive and festive event, followed by a performance by "Las Fellini" at 10.30 p.m. and the DJs Hnos. Pla DJs. There will be a bar service provided by the Alicante Association for the Fight Against Cancer - Calpe branch and an information point of the association 'Alicante Entiende'.
The programme will continue with LGTBIQ+ awareness days which include the presentation of the book "You are my Universe" by Emilio Vladimir on Monday 1st July at 19.30 h in the Saló Blau, the LGTBIQ+ exhibition in the Plaza Mediterráneo, which will be inaugurated at 12 noon on Tuesday 2nd July, and a talk on sex education by the association 'Alicante Entiende' at 18.30 h in the Saló Blau. The conference will conclude with a talk on discriminatory violence against LGTBIQ+ by Javier Scotto in the Saló Blau on Wednesday 3 July at 7pm.
"We want to celebrate the great Pride festival without losing its vindictive nature," said councillor Mireia Ripoll, who pointed out that in future editions we will be working to ensure that the activities are held over the course of a month.
The councillor for Tourism Planning, Marco Bittner, highlighted the Tourism Department's commitment to making Calpe an attractive destination for this group, as it promoted at the last International Tourism Fair in Madrid. He also announced that a section has been created on the Tourism website www.Calpee.es/pride where news and events related to Calpe as a LGTBIQ+ destination will be published, as well as promotion in Germany, Belgium and France.
For his part, the councillor for the Environment, Pere Moll, insisted on the vindictive nature of the celebrations and stressed that: "the colours of the LGTBIQ+ flag represent that there are many ways to love and that this movement should be normalised". And he reported that Calpe coincided with L'Orxa in the presentation of Calperide in Fitur and from there an initiative arose: "to make a marriage between Calpe and L'Orxa, a coastal municipality and an inland municipality, as a symbolic act," he said and that has materialized in the visit Calpe made to L'Orxa last week to participate in the events of the Orgull Rural and in the visit that the corporation of this municipality of the Comtat will make to Calpe to attend the events of 28 June.
LGTBIQ+ Friendly commercial campaign
The Calperide events are complemented by a commercial campaign in which "Calpe LGTBIQ+ Friendly" signs will be distributed to those commercial and leisure establishments that wish to place them at the entrance to their premises. The idea is to promote welcoming and safe spaces for the LGTBIQ+ community. "All together we will move forward," said councillor Paqui Solivelles, who said that these signs will be distributed from the Tourism offices in the Plaza del Mosquit and the salt marshes.
"We present an unbeatable programme, a unique and special initiative to celebrate and give relevance to the LGTBIQ+ Pride Day," said the mayoress of Calpe.