Meanwhile

Barcelona: Forty years ago their sexual orientation could land them in jail. Now Spain’s gay and lesbian community is honouring at WorldPride in Madrid the 4,000 pioneers who dared to protest for change in 1977.

“I thought only a handful of people would turn out but it was packed,” recalls Josep Maria Radua, 73, who took part in Spain’s first ever gay pride march held in central Barcelona on June 26 of that year.

Pictures show transsexuals at the head of the march along with men with thick moustaches and sleeveless shirts, women showing their buttocks. They held up signs condemning the persecution of homosexuals.