5 July, 2025
madrid-s-iconic-high-heel-race-highlights-pride-and-tradition

Spectators gathered on the cobblestone streets of Madrid’s Chueca neighborhood this week to witness one of Spain’s most unique races: the “Carrera de Tacones,” or high-heel race. Held annually as part of the city’s Pride celebrations, the race features competitors—mostly men in towering heels—charging down Calle de Pelayo, as they have for decades. The event, filled with whoops, cheers, and gasps, saw racers attempting to outpace each other on Thursday, some stumbling ungracefully in their unruly heels towards the finish line.

Despite the frenzy, an event of this magnitude and significance to Spain’s LGBTQ+ community requires meticulous planning. As the race has grown increasingly popular, David Bonillo, the event’s manager since 2014, detailed the day’s schedule. “There will be seven races in total, much more than in recent years,” he explained, starting his day early at LL Bar, the iconic drag establishment that founded the competition in the late 1990s. “Six qualification races at 6pm. Then, the winners will face-off in the grand finale.”

Strict Rules and Fierce Competition

The Carrera de Tacones has its rules, and organizers enforce them strictly. In the back room of a neighboring sportswear shop where runners check in before the race, staff members were seen taping participants’ shoes tightly to their ankles with black duct tape to minimize the risk of sprains and breaks. Nearer to the store’s entrance, another staff member measured the heels with a well-worn tape. Runners face disqualification for any footwear under 10 cm high (about four inches).

“I’m sorry, but you’re not going to be able to race,” the woman measuring told a visibly disappointed racer, Edson Escolar, who was cradling a pair of blue stilettos. “(It’s) two centimeters too short.” Escolar, who traveled from Guatemala to join the race, expressed his disappointment. “In Guatemala, we have Pride but it’s nothing like this. People there still look at you funny if you wear feminine clothes. Here, I feel so free.”

The Evolution of a Cultural Phenomenon

Few in Spain know more about the race’s humble beginnings than the drag queen known as Chumina Power. A singer and comedian, she is one of the most recognized faces in Chueca and presented the race this year with a mix of singing, dancing, and commentary from a small platform near the finish line. Power attended the event’s first-ever race and began working as a drag performer at LL Bar a few years later.

“The high heel race has been going on for 30 years, but at first, it was a tiny event with just a few people,” she recalled. “Pride itself was also small. The first celebrations in this country took place across only two small streets here, and Calle de Pelayo was one of them.”

“Most people didn’t come to Pride to demonstrate because it was still frowned upon back then,” she said. “But the race grew with Madrid Pride, (which is) now one of the most important festivals in Spain.”

Known as “Orgullo Gay de Madrid,” Madrid Pride began as a political demonstration in 1978. By 2019, it had become Europe’s largest Pride celebration, drawing around two million visitors annually.

Anticipation and Triumph

As Power returned to the stage, racers began their final stretches, and anticipation grew among the crowd. People huddled closer to the edge of the makeshift running track. Each qualifying heat featured a mix of experience and youth, with some runners anxious and quiet while others joked together, drinks in hand.

Brian Healy, originally from Ireland and a Madrid resident for seven years, shared his enthusiasm. “I’ve competed every year since 2018 and I love it,” he said. “I bought these shoes online from China, and something felt different when I put them on,” he continued, easing himself down to the ground to stretch. “They were so cheap they didn’t even have a left and right one! They were both the same, but I’ve kind of got used to it now,” he joked.

For first-time participants like Pablo Lopez, who chose a long, loose pair of black leather boots, the race was daunting. “I’m really scared,” Lopez admitted with a shy smile. “I practiced a little bit at home, walking and running slowly, but the ground is different here.”

Before the final race, shoe fatigue became an issue. At one point, a finalist lifted their leg to reveal bloodied toes and the remains of a shredded shoe. For the remaining finalists, a surprise awaited: all six would have to make a stop to change into a long dress, don a wig, and carry a handbag filled with bricks to the finish line on Power’s stage.

The final race was intensely competitive, with the first and second place-winners separated by less than a second. “This was so much fun, and I’m so pleased to have won it,” said Raul Prieto, who traveled to Madrid for the race from his hometown of Bilbao. Clutching a large check for €350 (about $412), he added, “I want to run this race every year for the rest of time!”