SPAIN: Twenty Spanish bishops and cardinals joined a mass demonstration in Madrid on Saturday evening to protest against the legalisation of homosexual marriages and the right for same-sex couples to adopt children.
The centre of the city came to a standstill as hundreds of buses and thousands of private cars from across the country clogged the streets.
Police estimates put the crowd at about 170,000, the regional government at 700,000 and the organisers claimed 1.5 million people packed the streets where the temperatures approached 40 degrees.
The demonstration passed off peacefully, although several people were overcome by the heat.
As well as the senior clerics who marched at the head of the demonstration behind a banner reading: "La Familia Sí Importa" (Yes, the Family Matters), were many leading Popular Party officials including Ana Botella, wife of former prime minister José María Aznar, former defence minister Federico Trillo, PP secretary general Angel Acebes, and many close to Opus Dei.
Many of the marchers were openly anti-homosexual. Alicia Garcia, mother of six, described homosexuals as "unnatural and sick" - others simply opposed the use of the word "marriage".
José, a 28-year-old economics student from Valencia, said that he would approve legislation to formalise same-sex unions recognising partners as next of kin with pension and inheritance rights, but not to allowing them to wed.
"I am in favour of granting them equal rights, so long as it is not called 'marriage'," he said.
Others carried banners declaring: "Matrimony = a Man and a Woman" . Many of those who were opposed to homosexual couples adopting children gave their own children banners saying: "I have a father and a mother, but you won't have both!"
Although Spain is a secular state, an estimated 80 per cent are officially Catholics. However, fewer than 50 per cent of them say they practise their religion and more than half of Spanish marriages end in divorce.
Saturday's march was a symbol of the growing polarisation of Spanish political life, with ever-increasing verbal clashes between the government and the right wing opposition. PP have backed three anti-government demonstrations in as many weeks, all attracting many thousands of sympathisers.
Beatriz Gimeno, president of the Spanish federation of gays and lesbians, described the situation as "a return to the extreme right wing national Catholicism of the Franco days".
Homosexual groups did not hold a rival demonstration so as not to provoke tension and possible clashes. Instead, six hours before the anti-gay march, they assembled near Constitution Monument to hear Pilar Bardem, the actress mother of Oscar nominee Antonio Bardem, read a short communiqué in which she accused the church and the PP of discrimination against gays and of going back to the past.
The bill legalising same-sex marriages is expected to become law by the first week in July. Many couples are already planning their weddings. Juan and Pamela Kindelan, who rent out their garden outside Madrid for parties and weddings, said: "We have five or six gay weddings booked over the next six months, and have received inquiries from several others."