Cent. This venue marked a before and after in the city's lesbian nightlife. For four years, the club was one of the essential meeting points for ladies of all ages. If you long for those good old days, you'll be happy to know that since the beginning of September, the place called Carpe Diem in its latest encarnation has reopened as a lesbian bar, now called Ohlala! Behind the new setup is a woman who is well-known in the feminine environs of the city, Esther Pérez, who also hosts the Silk sessions.
If the name Ohlala! also sounds familiar, it may be because a lesbian club with the same name and also with Pérez at the helm opened last February at La Luna. 'But we didn't reach an understanding with the owners and we were there just four days,' she says. Finding suitable locations, where everything works properly and everyone gets each other isn't always easy. But Pérez isn't the type to throw in the towel, and since then didn't stop looking for a new space to set up a club she could keep open till late on Friday and Saturday. She finally decided to try her luck with a space that carried very good memories with it. 'Kiut gave us a lot of joy and I'm so happy to be going back there. The owners are also very happy to dedicate a couple of nights a week to lesbians once again,' she says. And so the venue, which has been entirely renovated, scrubs up well to become part of the gay scene again. In addition to Ohlala! on Fridays and Saturdays, from October, Sundays will see the place become the new Martin's, which will kick off with part of the team from the legendary club on Passeig de Gràcia.
Ladies' night until the sun comes up
Pérez is far from being alone in backing this latest project. Also behind the new sessions is a group she started called Twenty1, which Pérez heads up with her girlfriend, Tamara, and a great group of collaborators. Together, they want to create a club where girls can feel comfortable and where you can dance until 5am, which is something of a novelty because until now all lesbian clubs have closed at 3am. On Friday, Ohlala! will let girls bring their brothers in arms, but on Saturday the idea is that it's strictly ladies' night (however, it's likely not to be as strict as Silk).
With the opening of this new club, the Gaixample is enjoying one of its best eras in terms of lesbian clubs. Dietrich is still going strong one year on with Tarantina. La Sue BCN, also a year old, is a great place to have your first drink of the night. Not far from La Sue is Bambo - the former Bambolina which has recently been converted into a pintxos bar, but the girls still reign, and soon they'll be hosting the Melon party. On C/Valencia is the mothership Aire - a true classic with a young and faithful clientele. And uptown, there are spots like La Rosa and the L'Armoire parties. We can't leave off the list the events set up with lesbians in mind, such as LeSFATALes or the Abolladas collective. 'There have been times when we girls had almost no places to go,' says Pérez. 'But now there is a lot of supply to meet the demand. And this is a good thing because more people get out there.' At last, there are a lot of options for lesbians out on the town to choose from, so get out there and have fun.