Thousands join colourful Pride parade in Spain's Madrid

Thousands of revellers gared in Mrid for Pride pare on Saturday afternoon.

y were full of excitement to join first full-scale pare since start of coronavirus pandemic.

Although re was a small one last year, it didn't feature colourful floats that are highlight of popular event.

Mrid Orgullo, as it's locally known, is considered to be Europe's largest Pride event.

It features a week of parties, concerts and community events in and around capital's Chueca neighbourhood.

celebrations culminate in a huge pare, with participants from all around world.

So many revellers showed up on Saturday that start of pare was delayed by police, reportedly for security reasons.

crowds were left to keep mselves cool as temperatures reached into mid-30s Celsius (mid-90s Fahrenheit) by late afternoon.

Spain's cabinet last month approved a new draft of a LGBTQ rights bill.

If backed by parliament, it will allow people as young as 16 to change ir gender freely, and those as young as 12 to do so with a judge's authorization.

This version of bill is very similar to one that was initially presented by government a year ago but was held up due to debates within Spain's left-wing ruling coalition.