Barcelona Wins WorldPride 2030 Hosting Over Bangkok
Barcelona was chosen to host WorldPride 2030, beating Bangkok. InterPride stages the event every two years, and Pride Barcelona led the bid.
Barcelona will host WorldPride in 2030. The city was chosen over Bangkok, the capital of Thailand and the only other city in the running, according to reports on Thursday from El Nacional and Ara.
Pride Barcelona, the group that drove the bid, announced the result on social media. It said more than two years of work and alliances with LGBTQIA+ communities around the world had led to “a new stage” for the project.
What WorldPride is
WorldPride is organized by InterPride, an international association, and takes place every two years in a different city. The program includes parades, marches and festivals, as well as other activities such as a conference on human rights.
Because the event changes city each time, a win gives the host a single edition. Bangkok, the other candidate, did not win this round.
How the Barcelona bid was made
The Catalan candidacy was pushed by Pride Barcelona and presented in the city in June. Its backers described Barcelona as a pioneer in defending LGBTI+ rights and an international reference in the fight for human rights. According to El Nacional, the bid made that case against a background of rising hate speech.
In its post on social media, Pride Barcelona said it wants the 2030 edition to defend rights, connect communities and leave a legacy. Its message began with the words “Ho hem aconseguit” (We did it). Dates and venues for the event were not disclosed in the first reports.
Who is expected to comment
Jaume Collboni, the mayor of Barcelona, was scheduled to react on Thursday afternoon. So were Eva Menor, the Catalan government’s consellera d’Igualtat i Feminisme (minister for equality and feminism), and Ferran Poca and Maria Giralt, president and vice president of Pride Barcelona. They were due to give their assessment of the choice of the city.
What this means for Barcelona
El Nacional wrote that hosting the event puts Barcelona at the centre of LGBTQIA+ communities worldwide in 2030. Parades, marches, festivals and a human rights conference are the kinds of activities that make up a WorldPride program, so residents of the city can expect the event to appear in its public life that year. Details of the schedule have not been announced.
Sources: go.eln.cat, El Nacional, Ara
