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A man fires up his computer, types “gay cruising” into a search engine and up pops a host of links. As his heart races in anticipation, he clicks through the list. He finds a map with blinking lights of cruising hotspots, Facebook group links and near the bottom, a forum, where visitors are asked to post a note with the type of guy they’re looking for, a place and time, and just like that, a date is arranged.

Mention the word ‘cruising’ to many, even among the gay community, and it elicits one of two responses. The first has the person babbling on about the cruise lines with the most comfortable travel among ports on the Mediterranean. The other is one of surprise and sometimes disapproval, typically accented by a sharp raising of the eyebrows.

Two men meeting for no-frills sex is nothing new to the gay community and is practiced by business execs to fast-food counter guys; even celebrities are known to go trolling for sex. Looking closer at the practice, is it really any different from what heterosexuals do when they pick up a one-night stand at a nightclub?

The casual act of finding a partner for consensual sex has advantages in providing pleasure with no strings attached. “It’s total, anonymous sex and then you’re out. Get in. Get out. Over. Totally anonymous is the best way for me. We’re simply enjoying each other’s flesh,” emphatically states Jacob, a young gay expat in Barcelona.

According to Spanish law, sex in public places – so long as it doesn’t disturb others – isn’t considered an illegal activity, so Spain, and Barcelona in particular with its thriving gay community, offers a wealth of spots where this age-old activity occurs. “It’s been a part of gay culture since the beginning of time,” explains Jacob. Though the origin remains murky, references to cruising in the UK – where it was first known as “cottaging” – go back hundreds of years.

Originating in the Victorian era, the word “cottage” meant a public toilet. The term became a codeword in the gay community, used to quickly communicate one’s desire to have sex with a stranger in a public lavatory. Casual sex encounters became fashionable in other areas and the term evolved from cottaging to cruising. Cruisers now hook up almost anywhere, from parking garages and hospitals to parks and beaches.

“Everyone works a different way. I’d rather go to a club, have music, and have fun with it (cruising),” says Jacob. About 20 years ago Chernobyl Beach and Montjuic Park, still among the spots where public cruising is most prevalent, were the only options. Now, nightclubs and saunas provide a more private environment.

“You don’t have to go all the way to Montjuic to find (sex). There are clubs and after parties, and saunas,” Jacob continues. These days, cruising happens on the street, or in the hallway of your apartment building. Who could forget the Sex and the City episode when Miranda embarrassingly misinterprets the half-naked towel dance of a man in the building across the street as flirting, when in reality he was cruising her upstairs neighbor?

Spotting someone for a sexual romp can happen almost anywhere: in the grocery store or in line at the bank. For the timid, going out and making eyes at strangers may be more daunting than just finding someone on the Internet. Facebook groups like Cruising Barcelona and free applications like Grindr offer added ease and safety to shyer guys.

Cruising Barcelona, which describes itself as a place for “meeting guys, kinky folks in shopping malls, public toilets, train stations, parks, homes, gyms…always for a good time,” allows men to communicate and set up sex dates on the group’s wall. While Grindr uses GPS technology or WiFi from mobile phones to determine a user’s exact location and connect him with guys in his immediate area for a quick hook up. Although this technology may help, it can also spark an unhealthy obsession. “I know people who are addicted. Theyhave gotten caught up in finding men online,” adds Jacob.

Day or night, most cruisers end up in the gardens of Montjuic for their sexual rendezvous, unbeknownst to many park visitors. Sometimes, initial cruising occurs around the benches, where guys check each other out before retreating to more shaded areas for a bit of private fun. “Places like Montjuic typically have many more repressed men, for example, men who are not out of the closet, or maybe men who still don’t accept themselves, and, or married men,” adds Mark, another gay expat who has been living in Barcelona for over 10 years.

Last summer in Amsterdam’s De Oeverlanden Park, a widely known spot for gay cruising in both the Netherlands and all of Europe, officials began posting signs indicating where the park’s cruising spots were. However, the decision to signpost the cruising areas came under fire by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. They questioned whether marking these areas would help raise awareness and tolerance for cruising or rather create dangers for cruisers.

Hate groups have been known to terrorize men in places identified as cruising spots. From Jamaica to England, cruisers have been harassed by gay bashers, in some cases murdered. Because of this, sites such as guiagaybarcelona.es have decided to include safety tips for cruisers.

“In open spaces have a look around first for any possible dangers. Look for a safe place with a quick exit in case of an attack or criminal act, since these places are also frequented by delinquents taking advantage of the situation,” advises Toni of guiagaybarcelona.es. It’s also important for cruisers to let someone know where they will be.

Hate group attacks and even pickpockets aren’t cruising’s only dangers. While there may be an allure to getting sexually intimate with a stranger, the air of mystery also comes with a risk of picking up a sexually transmitted disease. Cruisers are advised to use condoms, practice good hygiene and go for regular STD testing and medical checkups.

These risks seem to deter a larger portion of gay men from cruising, but the ones who cruise are adamantly defend the practice. George Michael is perhaps the most vocal and famous face on the UK cruising scene. Known for frequenting Hampstead Heath, a common London cruising spot, Michael defended the activity in the British press last December, saying, “It’s a much nicer place to get some quick and honest sex than standing in a bar, E’d off your tits (high on ecstasy) shouting at somebody and hoping they want the same thing as you do in bed.” When put like that it is hard not to see the logic in it, after all, it seems a lot easier when two parties agree to the ‘bedroom’ terms beforehand.

With the warmer weather approaching, cruising will pick up once again at the beaches and up on Montjuic. While it may seem shocking that two male strangers would meet for sex in a public place, it is really no different than what occurs between heterosexual pairs in the bathrooms of some of the city’s most popular clubs on the weekends, or is it? If anything, the fact that the Internet and new tech applications allow cruisers to set the conditions ahead of time, seems, well, more practical and safer. As far as designating these areas with signposts, we’ll have to see if Barcelona follows Amsterdam’s suit, in the meantime, whether you agree with it or not, best just to heed the saying, “To each, their own.” NO + CZ

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