| Very Moorish: OutUK's Adrian Gillan gets to grips with gay Granada - Andalusia's historic gem! |
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Granada is a dramatically-landscaped uni town brimming with young cuties
yet with a rich Moorish past, set amidst the Sierra Nevada mountains, a cool
685 metres above sea level - topped by one of the world's great citadels. Also, it's birthplace and home to one of Spain's most famous LGBTs: poet and dramatist Federico García Lorca. |
 The Alhambra Hill |
Lorca was executed by Franco's fascist homophobes in July 1936,
at the start of the Spanish Civil War. Granada now, mercifully, has much to offer
its visiting queers.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!Just 50 metres from the world-famous Alhambra, and a mere ten minute walk from the town centre, Hotel Guadalupe is hard to beat - a plush, atmospheric yet great value Andalusian gem. Fab restaurant too. |
| Spend a day exploring the most stunning Arabic monument in Spain, strewn majestically across the Alhambra hill - including the Alcazaba fortress, Generalife gardens and Nasrid Palaces. Dating back to 1238 in parts, it is an exotic Moorish splendour. Then, meander through the warren of bustling shop-and-café-lined streets in the Albaicín district, on the hill opposite. And, as darkness falls, tour the gay venues, some of which cluster - somewhat aptly, given the currently weakened state of Spain's Catholic Church - just to the side of the Cathedral quarter. |
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You can read more
about Granada at tourist info site TurGranada.es
NIGHTLIFENo one hits bars or clubs here pre midnight! So take your time at the one of few gay cafes in Granada that serves good food and wine that's served in ice cold glasses. El Bar De Fede can be found on Calle Marqués de Falces. Alternatively, there's Gastro Amieiro a Gay Bar on Calle San Isidro that's popular with a range of guys or Pub La Sal which attracts a good crowd as it has no loud music in a welcoming gay bar with a cozy, low-lit interior.Eclipse Pub & Bar is located in Plaza de los Lobos, in the center of the Nasrid city. Eclipse is a place that stands out for its fusion of tastes, bright colors and for living an experience. Every weekend there are live shows. It's Gay and GayFriendly, with a good atmosphere and very varied music from famous LGTBI icons, through reggaeton, techno house and more. Eclipse has cocktails, standard and premium drinks. |
| If you go a few blocks down, across the Plaza de los Lobos into Tic Tac on Horno de Haza, to soak up its seedy atmosphere and acquaint yourself with its cruisy reputation - notably the notorious darkroom, crammed with men of all ages. The bar has a good reputation with a friendly staff and some drag shows staged on a fairly regular basis. |
Patio de Arrayanes in Alhambra, Granada Photo: miralex |
| Stroll around the corner to XXL on Montalban - a modern, stylish yet bear-dominated bar nearby. If your feet are tapping, then pop back to Tendillas de Santa Paula, and enter 6 Colours - a relatively recent addition to Granada's gay scene, with a colorful, young, trendy, dancy pre-club crowd. It's become of the main gay clubbing joints in town cum the weekend! |
CRUISINGStill restless? Then hit Sauna Delfín (Antigua Géminis) on Santa Cruz, not far from the train station - for its videos, cabins, café, dark room, steamer and dry sauna. Open Mon-Sat 4pm-10pm; and Sun 12-10pm.They operate a number of special fetish nights and there's often reduction for any of the guys under 25. | 
Beautiful Building near Snowy Mountains Photo: Julio GM |
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Cruising Club Septimocielo kind of lives up to its name. This popular nightclub is a 4-min walk from the Granada Cathedral, and hosts
naked and theme nights on a regular basis which include latex, leather and underwear only.
X Cinema Room is a movie theatre found on Calle Buenos Aires. They have a mixture of gay and straight films and events attracting a wide range of people with somewhat differing tastes! Otherwise, the two top cruising areas in Granada are the railway station, mainly the gents; and nearby Jardines de Triunfo - a sloping park at the intersection of the city's two largest streets, Gran Via and Avenida de la Constitution, fairly busy in its lower stretches cum night.
Revised April 2023 | |