Organizers say the city's last pre-pandemic Pride celebration, in 2019, drew roughly 1.6 million revelers, though police put the figure at around 400,000. It is expected to draw large crowds, unlike the last two years' events, which were scaled down or canceled because of COVID-19 restrictions. The outbreak in Spain comes in the run-up to Madrid’s Gay Pride celebration in July. A top adviser to the World Health Organization said the outbreak was likely triggered by sexual activity at two recent mass events in Europe.
Most of the known cases in Europe have been among men who have sex with men, according to authorities in Britain, Spain, Germany and Portugal. But some people, particularly gay and bisexual men, believe there is a touch of homophobic hysteria in the wider public's reaction to the rare outbreak outside of Africa, where it has long been endemic.
