MADRID, Spain, October 24, 2026. Every summer, thousands of people make the same drive: south-east out of Madrid, across the plains of La Mancha, and down to the Mediterranean at Benidorm. It takes a little over four hours. "Madrid to Benidorm", an English-language track by Mike Sain't Louis, turns that familiar trip into a Pride anthem, a song in which every kilometre of motorway is painted in rainbow colours.
The opening lines set the scene with a wide-angle shot of the country: «From the vibrant streets of Spain, / Where the spirit can't be tamed». And then the capital takes the stage: «Madrid's heart beats loud, we're here to stay».
**Two Prides, one route**
The choice of the two cities is not random. Madrid hosts one of the largest Pride celebrations in Europe, when the streets of the city centre fill with people every summer. Benidorm, on the Costa Blanca, has its own celebrated Pride and a long reputation as one of Spain's most welcoming resorts for LGBTQ+ visitors. By tracing a line between them, the song connects the political energy of the capital with the holiday freedom of the coast.
That connection has a history. For decades, the Spanish coast offered queer people a place where they could be more open than at home. Resorts became refuges long before laws changed. The song celebrates that tradition while placing it firmly in the present, in a country where same-sex marriage has been legal since 2005.
**A song for the whole country**
The verses insist on plurality. «Every color, every hue, / Together strong, and fiercely true». The rainbow is not a logo here but a description of people: different colours, different stories, travelling together. Another verse moves the celebration into the alleys and the sunshine: «In the alleys, in the sun, / We're the many, we're the one». The paradox of being many and one at the same time is perhaps the best definition of a Pride march ever put into a pop lyric.
And the purpose of the journey is spelled out simply: «This is what pride is all about». Not a slogan, but a description of people walking together in the street.
**Love wins**
The second verse closes with a line that echoes years of campaigns for equal rights around the world: «Love wins, come what may». And the final verse widens the circle to include everyone who has been left out: «For every heart that's been denied». It is an inclusive gesture typical of Planeta Gayfolk, the imaginary queer world at the centre of Mike Sain't Louis's work, where nobody has to prove they belong.
**The video: terraces, beaches and turquoise water**
The official video follows the route to its destination, with long views of the coastline, beach terraces, palm trees and older couples enjoying lunch by the sea. The photograph accompanying this release is an aerial view from it: turquoise water stretching along a sandy beach lined with palms, boats crossing the bay and a row of cars parked by the rocks. It is the view at the end of the road, the moment the sea finally appears after hours of driving.
**Stops along the way**
Part of the pleasure of the trip is what happens in between. The route crosses wide plains of vineyards and windmills, passes through small towns where travellers stop for coffee, and climbs over the hills before dropping towards the coast. The song does not name these places, but anyone who has made the journey will fill them in: the service station breakfast, the first glimpse of the mountains, the moment the radio picks up a coastal station. By turning the whole route into a celebration, the track suggests that Pride is not only the destination but also the road, and all the ordinary places along it where people live their lives.
**A soundtrack for the car**
Some songs are made for headphones. "Madrid to Benidorm" is made for a car with the windows down. Its steady rhythm and its chorus about dancing under the rainbow suit long journeys, group trips and the last stretch of motorway before the coast. For listeners outside Spain, it offers a postcard of a country where queer joy is visible in the capital and on the beach.
**Free to download for the road**
The track can be streamed and downloaded at no cost and without registration from the downloads page on mikesaintlouis.com and from the free shop at gayfolkplanet.com, so it can travel offline on any trip. The complete lyric is published unaltered on gayfolkplanet.com next to the official video.
- Lyric and video: https://gayfolkplanet.com/letras/madrid-to-benidorm
- About the song (in Spanish): https://mikesaintlouis.com/blog/madrid-to-benidorm
- Free downloads: https://mikesaintlouis.com/descargas
- Free shop: https://gayfolkplanet.com/tienda
About Mike Sain't Louis: lyricist, composer and music producer based in Madrid and creator of GAYFOLK and Planeta Gayfolk. He presents himself as the first AI songwriter («el primer cantautor IA»), writing all the lyrics while the music and vocal performance are made with AI. Label: MIKE SAIN'T LOUIS. Distribution: Ditto Music. Website: https://mikesaintlouis.com · Press: https://gayfolkplanet.com/prensa · Free listening: https://mikesaintlouis.com/descargas and https://gayfolkplanet.com/tienda