Torremolinos Pride : Those first impressions …

It’s Torremolinos Pride today. So it’s all about the partying. Of course. And it started in earnest last night. 

This morning as I lie in bed I’m somewhat relieved I’m not too hungover. I cut my losses about midnight. Some of us didn’t. ….  More on that later.

Things started well yesterday. It was our second day here in Spain. The first had been largely spend acclimatising with the use of the open bar at our hotel. We’re staying at the Melia Costa Del Sol which is lovely. We’ve paid a bit extra for something called The Level. 

Juggy, Vince, Stu and I had a nice walk along the front yesterday morning. But boy is some of it tacky. Broken down hotels. Some with barbed wire fences. White plastic chairs seem to litter the seafront populated by wall to wall cafe/eateries for mile after mile. Some do look quite nice. But others look positively rank. Everyone sells egg, bacon and beans. Very slanted towards Brits Abroad. 

Three miles along the front was the Marina which got noticeable smarter. We stopped for refreshments there. 

We then meandered back to our hotel slowly as the temperature rose. The sun is fierce here. 

The rest of our gang were by the pool drinking already. We all spent the afternoon sunbathing together. And splashing about in the pool and the jacuzzi. The Level at the hotel is deffo worth it. Great views. Not packed. Food and drink all day. Huge breakfast until noon. Nibbles from then and then tapas from 7pm. Free towels, lovely pool. Even lovelier pool boys. 

In the evening we headed into town to see the Pride kickoff party. It was in a big car park(!) packed with Spanish gays. Very easy on the eye. The stage had a succession of local ‘talent’ ; miming, prancing about “Hello Torremolinos!” All very amateurish but good fun. Lots of rainbows and beers stall. Voucher system. €4 a beer.

We also met up with two Spanish guys Tim, Andy & I had previously met in Seville in March. Ivan and Juan.  They had driven 3 hours over from Seville to see us. Well, to see Tim I suspect. 

After what seemed like the 28th local act we all decided to head back to the main gay area about half a mile from the car park. Wall to wall gay bars. Seemingly under a shopping centre. It was very busy - being the night before Pride. I only managed one small beer before heading home. All day drinking and then 6 beers at the car park - I was done. The rest of the gang stayed out much later. Stu crawled in and crashed about 4am. He’s still fast asleep. 

So I imagine today will be a slow start. Todays Pride parade starts from 6pm. But being in Spain that probably means 9pm. 

As they say, it’s a good life if you don’t weaken. But it’s stamina counts in the end.