Some plastic chairs stacked on the terrace of a bar, a balcony decorated with flowers and a window with jars of candy and sweets. All with the colors of the rainbow. These are the three images displayed by the Madrid City Council to promote Pride 2026 in an institutional campaign that, according to the council, seeks to highlight “cHow the city protects and promotes the rights of LGTBI people”, but which has once again earned the discontent of the group and some of the citizens, who criticize the municipal government for its ambiguity and emptying a protest meeting of political content.

The graphics, already displayed in the streets of the capital, are presented accompanied by the motto “Diversity is lived in Madrid”, which seeks to present the capital “as a reference for welcoming and respecting a diversity that is not only celebrated and claimed during Pride, but in everyday life“, according to the City Council in a statement. For the Executive led by Almeida, the designs “They represent how diversity is defended and also integrated in neighborhoods, businesses and homes in Madrid.”.

The images, which can be seen on the circuit of marquees, banners, mupis and digital screens in the city, as well as in the media and on social networks, also include the message “Proudly of Madrid.” “An expression with which the City Council celebrates the pride of belonging to a city in which diversity is lived in freedom”; they point out from the council.

Citizens’ evaluations have not taken long to appear and denounce, among other things, the ambiguity of the message, pointing out that it is closer to a tourism promotion campaign or patron saint festivities than to an institutional communication for Pride. They criticize the trivialization of the event, as well as that of the group and its rights; its increasing commercialization; the erasure of collective memory; and its political and social disconnection from the original activist essence of Pride.

Beyond the demands, some users have also criticized the apparent use of artificial intelligence to create the graphics, something they consider lacking in feeling and sensitivity for an event that, precisely, should celebrate human rights. They point out a poor aesthetic sense, the absence of symbolism or the lack of presence of LGTBI people.

The City Council, on the other hand, defends the proposal. “The campaign demonstrates that diversity does not only appear in the big visible moments, but is present every day of the year in small gestures and in the day-to-day life of the city.“explains José Fernández, Delegate of Social Policies, Family and Equality, in the statement. “In Madrid, LGTBI diversity is not a proclamation or a mere institutional declaration, it is incorporated naturally into the daily rhythm of the city and its way of living together.”.
He has also defended him on social networks as a result of the conversations generated by the campaign.

The criticism from the community and citizens is part of a trend of discontent towards the Madrid City Council’s approach to Pride. Beyond policies, the municipal government headquarters has not displayed the rainbow flag during celebrations since 2019; and the campaign that is now being carried out adds to a list of communications that LGTBI organizations and people consider, to say the least, unfortunate.

The controversy of 2024 was notable, when the posters limited themselves to expressing “Madrid Pride 2024”, on a background of colored figures, among which appeared heels, cocktail glasses or condoms, which also aroused criticism. The City Council was accused of frivolizing the event, as well as promoting prejudices and preconceived ideas about the group.

In 2023, for example, the graphics presented different objects, such as fans or carnations, in different colors that, together, formed the rainbow flag, and were only accompanied by the message “Show your pride.” Then the Almeida Executive was also criticized for suppressing the LGTBI acronym, ideological invisibility and lack of identity. For its part, in 2021 the campaign motto was “Madrid, a matter of pride”, and in 2022 “Pride of Madrid”.