The Pride of Ávila withdraws an award from Almeida for "LGTBI activism" after criticism

The Madrid City Council led by José Luis Martínez-Almeida has gone in a few days from being listed as awarded for its “LGTBI+ activism” to disappearing from the list of awards of the Orgullo de Ávila. The association ArcoÁvila, organizer of the event in Ávila, initially included the Madrid council among its annual recognitions, but later withdrew the mention after the controversy opened by criticism from groups and representatives of the Madrid left.

The recognition was especially striking given the recent history of the municipal government of the Popular Party (PP) in Madrid. Almeida has never hung the rainbow flag in the Palacio de Cibeles and his Executive has had several clashes with the opposition over the institutional visibility of the collective. The controversy also comes in the middle of Pride week, after the City Council presented a campaign with colorful urban objects and furniture, without the presence of LGTBI people or a clear reference to the protest nature of the event.

Más Madrid accuses Almeida of distancing himself from Pride

The spokesperson for Más Madrid in the City Council, Rita Maestre, has criticized the failed recognition and has accused the mayor of maintaining an evident political distance from Madrid Pride. Maestre recalled the municipal government's resistance to fully participate in the collective's events and has challenged Almeida to demonstrate that he has no ideological or personal qualms about a celebration that Madrid experiences every year in the streets.

The withdrawal of the award has not been accompanied by a detailed public explanation from ArcoÁvila. The delegate of Social Policies, Family and Equality of the Madrid City Council, José Fernández, has defended that the council was going to receive the award for three decades of commitment to LGTBI people and has attributed the reversal to the “pressure” generated after the publication of the criticisms.

The case has also put the spotlight on ArcoÁvila itself. As ‘ElPlural’ published and ‘elDiario.es’ later reported, one of its prominent promoters is Alfonso González Garrido, PP councilor in Ávila and a figure linked to the organization of the local Pride. The controversy leaves an uncomfortable picture for Almeida just as Madrid kicks off its Pride amidst reproaches over municipal posters, the absence of the flag in Cibeles, and the PP's attempt to present itself as a guarantor of rights that its governments continue to dispute in every institutional gesture.