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A total of 57 companies in the Basque Country have the distinctive "gay friendly" label, most of them tourism-oriented. Included in the list of 57 are restaurants, decoration and interior design companies, sex shops and even construction companies.

Yesterday, Bilbao hosted the Gay Expo initiative, a presentation held in the Barceló Nervión hotel headed by journalist Karmele Marchante.

According to the Reservation Network Gays, there are over 200,000 homosexuals in the Basque Country with a purchasing power of 4,800 million euros. In Spain, that figure rises to three million people.

Among the gay-friendly Basque establishments, there are 20 rural houses and hotels. Biscay counts 25 gay-friendly establishments, Gipuzkoa 22 and Alava 10. The officials of the initiative Expo Gay, rated Bilbao as the "gay capital" of Northern Spain.

According to figures of Spain''s Tourism Institute, homosexuals spend an average of 130 euros a day, while a heterosexual tourist spends 80 euros.