Borja Casillas Toledo, known professionally as Drag Sethlas, is a Spanish drag performer from

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, Spain, known for competing on

season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album), 2014 * ''2econd Season'', an album by Unk, 2008 * "Season 2", a song by Phoenix from ''Alpha Zulu ''Alpha Zulu'' is the seventh studio album by French indie pop band Phoenix, released on 4 ...

'' of

Drag Race España ''Drag Race España'' (sometimes called ''Drag Race Spain'') is a Spanish reality competition television series, produced by Atresmedia Televisión in collaboration with Buendía Estudios and executive produced by World of Wonder. It is the Spa ...

'' (2022) and winning season 1 of '' Drag Race España All Stars'' (2024), as well as winning the Drag Queen Gala at the

Carnival of Las Palmas The Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is one of the most famous carnivals of Spain. The event is celebrated every year in the month of February in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. In 2023 it was declared a Fiesta of International Tourist Intere ...

, both in 2017 and 2020, respectively.

Early life and education

Borja Casillas Toledo attended the

University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria The University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, also known as the ULPGC (''Spanish'' Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) is a Spanish public university located in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the capital city of Gran Canaria island. It is t ...

, where he received a degree in Early Childhood Education. He has been a dancer since a very young age.

Career

In 2017, Sethlas won the nineteenth Drag Queen Gala of the Carnival of Las Palmas de Canaria, with the concept ''¡Mi cielo! Yo no hago milagros. Que sea lo que Dios quiera.'' (Darlings! I don't make miracles. Whatever God wills, will be), designed by Nelson Rodríguez. In 2020, he returned to win the twenty-third edition of said gala. In 2022, he participated in the second iteration of ''Drag Race España'', where he ultimately placed 6th. He then returned in 2024 for '' Drag Race España All Stars'', where he became the winner of the season. Winning 4 out of 5 competitive episodes, 3 of which all in a row, Sethlas has the award of having the best track record of any ''Drag Race'' queen from any franchise. In 2017, Sethlas was sued by the Association of Christian Attorneys (ACA) for using religious symbols in his performance at the Carnival of Las Palmas Drag Queen Gala. Furthermore, the video of Sethlas' performance was removed from the

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española (''Spanish Radio and Television'', RTVE), is the Spanish national public Broadcasting, television and radio broadcaster. It is a state-owned enterprise f ...

web page because it "might harm people's sensibilities." The president of the Island Council of Tenerife, Carlos Alonso, branded the performance as "offensive," adding that "in the Drag Queen Gala of the Carnival of Las Palmas, in that headlining moment, there was no Carnival nor freedom, only offense."

Monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

Francisco Cases Andreu, bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Canarias The Diocese of Canarias or Diocese Canariense-Rubicense () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church located in the Canary Islands in the ecclesiastical province of Seville in Spain. The dioceses includes the islands of Gran Canaria, Fuerteven ...

( Las Palmas Province), compared the drag queen's performance with the Spainair Flight 5022 accident, affirming that the former was making him "live the saddest day" of his stay in the Canary Islands. As a result of these declarations, the bishop had to ask forgiveness from the victims' families. The president of the

Islamic Federation of the Canary Islands The Islamic Federation of the Canary Islands (in Spanish language, Spanish: ''Federación Islámica de Canarias'') is a Muslim religious organization that brings together associations and Islamic religious communities around the Canary Islands. I ...

, Tijani El Bouji, also spoke out against the performance, which he called "blasphemous." Borja Casillas faced two lawsuits accusing him of wounding religious sensibilities, one of which was dismissed by grand jury number 8 of

, given that "a party like the Carnival allows us to rule out a deliberate intent to offend". Afterwards, the ACA requested an appeal of the dismissal, which was admitted for processing. Finally, the case was definitively archived upon finding that there was no offense to religious sentiments because the party is traditionally about being transgressive. The ACA was forced to pay the costs of the trial.

Filmography

References

External links

Drag Setlas' 2020 performance at the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Drag Queen Gala

Dismissal of the complaint against Drag Sethlas (Spanish)
{{Drag Race España Living people Drag Race España contestants Spanish drag queens University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Drag Race España All Stars winners Drag performers from Las Palmas