Quite apart from the
many restaurants, clubs,
bars and discos which
cater for a vibrant gay
and lesbian crowd, and,
of course, Sitges, forty
minutes south by train
and mainland Spain's
biggest gay resort (see
"Out of the
City"), several
groups organize regular
events and meetings, and
are keen to welcome
visitors.
There's a lesbian and
gay city telephone
hotline on 900 601 601
(6-10pm only) run by the
Ajuntament . Cómplices,
c/Cervantes 2, and
Antinous, c/Josep Anselm
Clavé 6, are gay
bookshops with useful
contacts and
information. For a map
of gay Barcelona,
detailing bars, clubs,
hotels and restaurants,
contact either SexTienda,
c/Raurich 11 (Mon-Sat
10am-9pm), or Zeus, c/Riera
Alta 11 (Mon-Sat
10am-9pm; tel 934 429
795). Look out also for
a free magazine called Nois
which carries an
up-to-date list of the
scene. Most of the
city's lesbian groups
meet at Ca la Dona (see
"Women's
Barcelona"): these
include the Grup de
Lesbianes Feministes de
Barcelona, which meets
on Thursday at 8pm, and
L'Eix Violeta, a young
lesbian group. Other
contacts include Casal
Lambda, c/Ample 5 (tel
934 127 272; Mon-Thurs
5-9pm, Fri 5-11pm, Sat
& Sun noon-9pm), a
gay and lesbian group
with a wide range of
social, cultural and
educational events; the
Front d'Alliberament Gai
(FAG) de Catalunya,
c/Verdi 88 (tel 932 172
669), an association for
gay men, with a library,
meetings and video
shows, and a gay youth
group at the same
address; and the Col·lectiu
Gai de Barcelona, c/Paloma
12 (tel 933 181 665), a
gay men's organization
with groups for younger
and older men, and a
magazine, Infogai
. The city's annual
lesbian and gay pride
march is on the nearest
Saturday to June 28,
starting in the evening
at Plaça Universitat.
Finally, the expression
for the scene in Spanish
is el ambiente
which simply means
"the
atmosphere" while
another useful
expression is the
question entiende?
literally meaning
"does he/she
understand?", but
effectively meaning
"is he/she
gay?".
