Vinícius, harassed in Spain and admired in Europe – The penultimate Raulista alive

On Friday, going down in the elevator of the Zenit hotel in Seville, I came across a very nice couple of Osasunista fans. “I can’t wish you luck tomorrow,” I told them. “Are you from Madrid?”the lady asked me. “Yes. I wish them luck, but starting on Sunday.” I lied. I lied out of education, but I lied. I do not wish Osasuna the best, and now I will try to explain (probably in vain) why. What the Jagoba Arrasate team has done is take off their hats, you can’t do more with less. It is, without a doubt, worthy of sports praise. But Osasuna, perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of habit, who knows if out of comfort, consents to a group of radicals in his stadium, the so-called Red forcewho roam freely and that the Saturday after the Friday in which I coincided with this kind couple, paraded through the streets of Seville, they tell me that very close to Don Remondo street, where 25 years ago ETA murdered Alberto Jiménez Becerril and Ascension García Ortiz, next to La Giralda, shouting “puta España, puta selección!” Osasuna seems like a friendly club, I’m sure there are a lot of very nice people and their prowess in the League and in the Cup is admirable, but the collusion of their board with violence is unassumable and, therefore, I cannot wish them the best.

It is not true that on Saturday in La Cartuja there were no insults to the King and whistles to the national anthem. This time there were the traditional insults, those insults that we already accept with reluctance, and, great news!, there was also applause: the Osasuna fans insulted and the Real Madrid fans applauded. If, for example, Osasuna and Athletic had reached the Cup final, only insults would have been heard. Or Athletic and Real Sociedad. Or Royal Society and Barcelona Soccer Club. Or Barça and Osasuna. Or Real Sociedad and Athletic. On Saturday, in La Cartuja, cheers were heard for the King and applause for the anthem… because there were Real Madrid fans, otherwise the umpteenth coven for independence would have taken place in what the federation calls the Spanish football festival. For me, who is Spanish and a Real Madrid fan, on Saturday there was a party but when the misfortune occurs that one of the previously mentioned teams reaches the final, if not both directly, I turn off the TV. And I turn it off because I feel outraged and because I know that this rule of law with fewer rights for some than for others is not going to defend me from humiliation. I don’t feel concerned by the Cup: sad but real.

It is, by the way, neither the first nor the second time that this amateur army of vandals utters insults against Spain and its King, who is the King of all of us. They insult, the Thebes League denounces, the defendant makes a paper plane with the complaint and, the following Sunday, insults himself again. If, say, Joe Biden were insulted as soon as he landed in Madrid, someone would probably do something, but Felipe VI is an easier target, as is the national anthem. Oh Vinicius. In Spain Vini is a harassable black. We fill our mouths with the word equality or criticize racism but when Vinícius is called a monkey it is because he has asked for it. Like Felipe VI, who will also have asked for it, I say. When our King leaves Spain he is loved and admired, the same as when Vinicius plays in Europe, but here inside one is insulted in the Cup final and the other is tickled to make him jump. Last night Vinícius played in the Champions League, the game was extremely tough, epic at times, he scored a great goal and, in the end, he hugged Walker, who was his relentless marker, and Halaand. On Saturday, in La Cartuja, they shouted “die!” And the referee did not pick it up in the minutes because, apparently, he does not have to. Well very good. Our League has a serious credibility problem because Spain has a serious problem of worldwide prestige, and it has it because its institutions are incapable of protecting us, for example, from the violent soccer players.

I was going to say that it’s funny to hear Zapatero recounting that milonga about how we’ve defeated terrorism, but no, I’m not funny, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Today, and on the cover, ABC reports that Bildu will put seven ETA assassins on his electoral lists and another 37 convicted. Who knows if, among those seven criminals, there will be one of those who killed the Becerrils a quarter of a century ago on Don Remondo street, the same street where an army walked 72 hours ago insulting Spain: “Whore Spain, fucking selection!” Perhaps the most academic thing from a journalistic point of view would have been that today I would have dedicated this comment to yesterday’s great game or, again, to Messi’s march to Arabia, but I had to say what I just said more than anything so as not to burst. Academic yes, correct no. The most correct thing is to denounce what happened on Saturday. Said remains. Denounced is. It won’t help.