19-03-09 A Chamber of Commerce especially for businesses run by gay men, lesbians, transexuals and bisexuals.

The initiative , which was suggested by the LGTB collective, is aimed at giving greater visibility to a sector which makes up 6.5% of Spain's population, with purchasing power of 72 billion euros per year, the equivalent of the combined GDP of the Balearic islands and Valencia. Economist Jose' Vila, the new president of the Chamber announced the news. He explained that the initiative will enable businesspeople from the LGTB collective to concentrate on strengthening their businesses and establish links with LGTB-friendly enterprises, friendly heterosexual brands which respect the 'values of diversity and inclusion''. Above all, in times of economic crisis, unity is strength.

The Chamber also intends to establish contact with large companies, with 'an authentic awareness of integration'' to offer consultancy services and launch collaboration efforts. Vila cited the cases of ING Direct and IBM to illustrate the concept. The LGTB Chamber of Commerce also plans to organise seminars, conference cycles, public initiatives, and a website. It will have offices in Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon, as well as promoting an Economics and Business club. The gay community, which has come out of the closet in Spain thanks partly to the social revolution caused by the recognition of gay marriages by the Zapatero government, is gaining visibility in line with its winning of social rights.

The community represents a real goose that lays the golden egg, and not just in the leisure industry. There are more GLBT shops (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transsexual), as have specialised offers from travel companies, tour operators, airlines and cruise companies, but companies like Visa, IBM and Google are also targeting the sector, which although very diverse not only spends more, but is trendsetting too.

From the gay movement in Madrid in the 1980s, when Pedro Almodovar went around the bars and hetero-friendly rock clubs with his entourage of drag queens, it's all water under the bridge now. From bars which at the time were the exclusive domain of freedom, to art galleries, the Chueca district, the city's gay area, which was taken over twenty years ago by the gay community and completely revamped, is now full of hotels, restaurants, spas and design and clothes shops, and even florists' especially for gays. In the Gaixample district of Barcelona, as it has been renamed, Hotel Axel was opened in 2003, where GLBTs from all over the world are welcome, has been so successful that promotor Juan Julia' has invested 13 million euros in opening a second hotel in Berlin, and has set up an investment fund for Axel in Buenos Aires, which is also dedicated to buying apartment properties.

The same is happening in Sitges, Masplomas, Ibiza and Torremolinos - the traditional summer destination for gays, where the taboo of directly marketing the gay community has broken down, where before the fear of losing their traditional clientele made them ignore the sector. The gay universe can now also count on a Chamber of Commerce just for them.