Espaņol
Welcome
to Buenos Aires! In this city you will find a mix between the elegance
of the Europe capitals and the spirit of South America . The city was
founded by immigrants that came mostly in the XIX century from Italy,
Spain, France, Germany, UK, etc. Visiting Buenos Aires, you will
experience a sort of "deja vų" of Europe while
you explore the grand boulevards, expansive parks, magnificent architecture,
and ever-changing fashion of Argentina's beautiful capital.
We encourage you to take a walk through neighborhoods like Recoleta, Palermo (Soho, Hollywood, Las Caņitas), and you'll be persuaded that you're in the Paris 16th District. Porteņos, -as Buenos Aires citizens are called-, feel with a sort of pride being the most European of South American.
Do
not get confused by the architecture of the city, you are still in South
America. It may appear in some areas to be a civilized city with an European
scent, but you will soon notice porteņo`s evident behavior. Specially
in issues like the traffic (they drive like hell, I think that was inherited
from Italians / Spaniards), the warm way they live their relationships
with family and friends (Porteņos boys give a kiss to greet other males
-even straight guys-), the passionate way they speak using their hands
to talk, the importance they gave to family and friends, and principally
the social and political structure of this beautiful city.
While
exploring Buenos Aires, you will find a city of contradictions. Great
wealth exists alongside considerable--if often hidden--poverty. The economy
was terrible for some years after 2001 crisis, but now is recovering very
fast (and you can notice it in shops, bars, restaurants and clubs). Anyway
during the crisis hotels and restaurants remained inexplicably full. Porteņos
can be self-assured, even though the population is highly image-conscious.
And Buenos Aires defines Argentina, but has little to do with the rest
of the country. All these elements demonstrate the complexity of a city
searching for identity among its South American and European influences.
And they make Buenos Aires an unusual and fascinating place.
Buenos Aires Gay Life.
Buenos Aires is becoming a popular gay travel destination. Is probably one of the most open-minded cities in Latin America. It has also an European feel, but very cheap because of the crisis. The guys are very hot, a mix of Italian, some Spaniards, German, French, English.
Andrew Collins author or several gay guides and Foddors Gay Guide, sustains in an online article published in OutUK: "This isn't a let-it-all-hang-out party place like Rio. Rather, in Buenos Aires, lesbians and gay men socialize on a fairly low-keyed level, often in the city's many trendy outdoor cafes and stylish restaurants - plus a decent number of gay bars. While you won't necessarily encounter a Castro- or Chelsea-like gay playground where same-sex couples stroll hand-in-hand, you will find that residents of Buenos Aires accept gays and lesbians as a natural component of the urban fabric."
In recent years there has been huge progress with several anti-discrimination and gay rights laws being passed. In 1996 measures forbidding discrimination on the basis of amongst other things sexual orientation were introduced, making Buenos Aires the first Spanish-speaking city in Latin America to do so. In 2002 same sex civil unions were approved in Buenos Aires.
Argentina gay community is very lively and active, specially in Buenos Aires and other big cities along the country. Gay Argentina main Pride Parade is held in Buenos Aires the 1st Saturday of November of each year, to mark the formation of the first-ever gay group in Buenos Aires in 1969.
Clive
Sanders website editor of
London Gay Times Travel
says: "Buenos Aires is
probably the most liberal and gay friendly city in Latin America. Here
you will find a large and sophisticated gay scene.
We were very impressed with Buenos Aires
which has a gay scene that we felt compared very favorably to any similar
sized city in Europe or North America. There are loads of gay bars,
restaurants and clubs, several saunas and even a raunchy sex club. the
only down side is that being a Latin country everything is of course
really late and most bars don't get started until well after midnight."
"We think the combination of a vibrant scene and a distinct "European"
feel will make gay and lesbian visitors comfortable.
Recent liberalization in the laws effecting
gays and lesbians plus the devaluation of the Peso has prompted a boom
in gay tourism particularly from the United States. "
TheGayGuide.Com.Ar
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Š 2003 . All rights reserved.
Last Update:
05-10-2007
.