Two year prison sentence demanded for party promoter in Torremolinos where homosexuals were banned

The Malaga public prosecutor's office is requesting a two-year prison sentence for the promoter of a party announced in January 2025 in Torremolinos that denied access to homosexuals, considering that it is a hate crime and that with his "homophobic messages" he violated dignity for discriminatory reasons based on sexual orientation. Along with the prison sentence, the prosecutor is also requesting a fine.

This is stated in the document prepared by Fernando Benítez, deputy prosecutor of the hate crimes and anti-discrimination department of the Malaga public prosecutor's office. The promoter is also accused of another crime of insulting a public official in the exercise of their duties — due to his statements against the Mayor of Torremolinos, Margarita del Cid, who reported the incident.

The prosecutor reports in his initial conclusions, consulted by Europa Press, that this party was advertised through social media networks with an advert in which the "rules" specified: "no fights, drugs, flip-flops or homosexuals", including a contact number which, according to the investigation, is the defendant's. The ad was removed from the account, which remains active with 267 followers.

For the public prosecution, the terms used by the defendant in the event announcement - “rejecting the widespread admission of homosexual people” and equating homosexuality with fighting or drug use -constituted “a serious humiliation that undermined the dignity” of people belonging to the LGBT+ community, which led numerous associations to join this case.

According to the prosecutor, the promoter, of Moroccan nationality, “was aware” that his message was being shared on social media, meaning that “from that moment he had no control over its dissemination,” as its impact could “multiply” through successive sharing, thereby “exponentially increasing the humiliation of the group of victims of his attacks, as indeed happened”.

Likewise, the provisional document states that the mayor, faced with “the clearly discriminatory nature” of the festival regulations, also made a post on social media expressing her condemnation, rejecting all homophobic behaviour and stating her intention to do everything possible to prevent the event or any similar activity from taking place.

In response, the accused sent a private message insulting the mayor and stating that the event was going to be moved to Malaga. In addition, a journalist from the newspaper Málaga Hoy contacted the accused by telephone and he again, according to the public prosecution, "insisted on his homophobic messages". In the end, the party was not held due to the "firm opposition of the Torremolinos town hall and the widespread reaction of public opinion".

For the prosecutor, it is a hate crime in the form of injury to dignity on discriminatory grounds of sexual orientation, another of insult to the authority in the exercise of its functions and a third of attempted denial of services.

For these reasons, it is requested that the defendant, who is in an irregular administrative situation in Spain, be sentenced, in addition to two years in prison, to disqualification from organising events for the same period. It also suggests a special disqualification from working in industry or commerce, as well as from holding an educational profession or trade, for a period of five years and nine months.