This complex, energetic, and seductive port city, which stretches south-to-north along the Rio de la Plata, has been the gateway to Argentina for centuries. Portenos, as the multinational people of Buenos Aires are known, possess an elaborate and rich cultural identity. They value their European heritage highly--Italian and German names outnumber Spanish, and the lifestyle and architecture are markedly more European than any other in South America. 

While exploring Buenos Aires, you will find a city of contradictions. Great wealth exists alongside considerable--if often hidden--poverty. The economy was terrible for some years after 2001 crisis, but now is recovering very fast (and you can notice it in shops, bars, restaurants and clubs). Anyway during the crisis hotels and restaurants remained inexplicably full. Porteños can be self-assured, even though the population is highly image-conscious. And Buenos Aires defines Argentina, but has little to do with the rest of the country. All these elements demonstrate the complexity of a city searching for identity among its South American and European influences. And they make Buenos Aires an unusual and fascinating place.

 

 

Buenos Aires is becoming a VERY popular gay travel destination. Is probably one of the most open-minded cities in Latin America. It's  a  city with the most freedom and openness for the homosexual community in Latin America, and the first one to legally recognize the civil union of homosexuals.It has also an European feel, but very cheap because of the crisis. The guys are very hot, a mix of Italian, some Spaniards, German, French, English.

 

Andrew Collins author or several gay guides and Foddors Gay Guide, sustains in an online article published in OutUK: "This isn't a let-it-all-hang-out party place like Rio. Rather, in Buenos Aires, lesbians and gay men socialize on a fairly low-keyed level, often in the city's many trendy outdoor cafes and stylish restaurants - plus a decent number of gay bars. While you won't necessarily encounter a Castro- or Chelsea-like gay playground where same-sex couples stroll hand-in-hand, you will find that residents of Buenos Aires accept gays and lesbians as a natural component of the urban fabric."

            

The GAY WORLD CUP recently played Buenos Aires and hosted 500 footballers from 28 countries. This was the first time the gay World Cup has been played in Latin America and it is enjoying the support of the Argentine Football Association - something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. But Buenos Aires is fast earning a reputation as a gay-friendly city and its love for football is second to none.