A bishop on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria has defended a nude LGBT-themed art performance in front of the local cathedral, leaving Catholic worshippers temporarily blocked from entering Mass.
On July 26, hundreds of naked participants painted in colors associated with the pro-LGBT “Progress Pride” flag gathered in front of the Cathedral of the Canary Islands in Las Palmas, Spain, for a photographic event by New York artist Spencer Tunick. July 26 was also the day of the city’s patronal feast, but local Bishop José Mazuelos Pérez endorsed the pro-LGBT performance.
“I have no problem,” Mazuelos, who was appointed a bishop in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI, told El País when asked about the performance outside his residence and cathedral. “When we go to the beach we see naked bodies, don’t we?”
The event, titled “Gran Spectrum,” brought together between 400 and 500 people in Santa Ana Square as part of the Culture & Business Pride 2026 festival, organized by the government of the Canary Islands. The performance aimed to promote “LGBTQIA+ inclusion” through images of nude bodies arranged in public spaces.
Tunick directed the participants from a nearby terrace using a walkie-talkie, instructing them to move into different positions for the photographs. The event took place only a short distance from the cathedral and the episcopal palace, where Mazuelos resides.
The bishop did object, however, to road closures connected with the event, which temporarily prevented the cathedral dean and around a dozen faithful from entering the church for the 10 a.m. Mass celebrating the feast of St. Anne.
Two elderly parishioners, Cita and Evaristo, told El País that they arrived early but were stopped by barriers. “Today is a special day for us,” they said. “When people go to concerts, don’t they arrive early to enjoy them? Well, we want to arrive early to enjoy God.”
Police eventually intervened to open a path for worshippers, who entered the cathedral while participants in the exhibition were still nearby, some of them still undressed.
Tunick said after the event that he considered the performance a success and connected it with LGBT identity and public inclusion. “I am very happy for all the people who came and participated,” he said, describing the gathering as an artistic collaboration involving “the identity of queer people, as well as LGBTQIA+ values, inclusion in art, equality and the simple freedom of being in public and among your neighbors.”
The artist also said the location represented progress for his work. “Any place where naked bodies are accepted and in harmony, without separating them, represents a great step forward towards the future,” Tunick said.
The Las Palmas performance is the latest in a long career of large-scale nude photography projects around the world. Some of his planned projects were canceled or rejected, including attempts in Tenerife, South Korea, and Taiwan. Tunick attributed those failures to what he described as restrictive or “narrow-minded” governments.
In Las Palmas, authorities supported the project by closing parts of the historic center from early morning and allowing participants to prepare away from public view. The location was the same square where Pope Leo XIV met with bishops, priests, deacons, religious, seminarians, and pastoral workers from the Diocese of the Canary Islands on June 11, 2026.