The Rose Garden. Photography: Christian Machowski.
This article is available in the magazine Jot Down Places.
The sentiment and fervor shown by the British, Finnish and Danish fans stands out in the face of the prevailing bipartisanship in a city marked by a clear fondness for Real Madrid and, to a lesser extent, Fútbol Club Barcelona. A multitude of civilizations have passed through the coasts of Malaga. A city open to the Mediterranean and with a clear stepmother character for its own. Little self-esteem and great praise from foreigners. Since time immemorial.
Malaga is now a city that is growing. For some, surrounded by the controversy of gentrification, tourist apartments, unattainable skyscrapers for most of their working class and the all-in by the tourism sector, and, for others, in full transformation and expansion. Modern Malaga. The two sides of the coin.
Malaga has been the city of the year for El Mundo. Absolute modernity for Vogue magazine or the most sought after place in the world among users of the Airbnb tourist housing portal. Ahead of Paris, Tokyo or New York. The place where everyone wants to come, live and undertake. Google and large multinationals such as Amazon focus on the capital of the Costa del Sol. An ideal destination where any investor and football lover wishes to settle, although, paradoxically, in the field of the king of sports, Málaga CF is going hard down and no brakes.
In sport, Málaga has had a stigma almost since the ball began to roll, already from Baños del Carmen, in later decades, with Club Deportivo Málaga, and up to now, with the current nomenclature. The concept of being a malaguista while being a malagueño. That’s all. Without infidelities or lovers. It almost means finding a needle in a haystack. The Philosopher’s Stone. A strange, rare being. A citizen who inadvertently carries the label of living in Comanche territory, because Málaga is the second team in the city.
The dream of a thousand and one nights that Al-Thani designed with foundations of sand continues to cause damage to the club. A Malaga intervened judicially for more than three years borders the precipice of professional football and a social mass that descends. Málaga is not just a passion of Málaga people. In a redoubt of fifteen thousand faithful throats and with “clean blood” or pure malaguismo, a small nucleus of followers stands out whose passport lists Helsinki, Copenhagen, Brussels, Bremen or any town more than a thousand kilometers from the central Calle Larios.
There is no scientific explanation that calibrates the love that these foreigners feel for the colors of the blue and white team. Crush, passion, feeling, commitment, courage or perhaps faith. Because Málaga was never a winning horse. On the contrary, historically there are episodes that border on Greek tragedy or surrealism at its best. Players who never made their debut or dressed in shorts. The Japanese Okazaki, the living example of an absurd and grotesque picture. Another example, that of a president shot dead just before trying to sell to Viberti, the great malaguista legend, to Real Madrid. Disappearance, refounding of the first team and hundreds of troubles.
Unforgettable phases of promotion or promotion that shed liters of tears, signings that bordered on the description of pufo, etc. Thousands of reasons for a good part of a generation to choose to look the other way. Towards the Castellana It is also the result of the particular inheritance from parents to children and the legacy of the Madrid of Di Stefano and the five European Cups. The drama hurts, the victory cheers. That’s how it went. The focus and aim was to follow Quinta del Buitre (1980-1990), Real Madrid de los Galacticos (2000) or Barcelona de Messi y Guardiola (2007 onwards).
paraphrasing the pope Francisco: «There is no full identity without belonging to a people». For many, their identity, their town, their homeland is Málaga and, by extension, the whole of Martiricos. It is the case of Christian MachowskYo. It is not necessary to be a lynx to verify that its origin is not Villanueva del Rosario, Teba or Ardales. Today it perfectly represents the concept of foreigner. He loves Málaga, lives in Málaga, delves into its customs and “leaves” money for the blue and white team. More than others. It is not a rare bird. It is something that he understands and defends tooth and nail. We chatted with him to try to explain how this fervor and affection for a team sustained by suffering is born. Without being from here and being able to choose other alternatives. «My passion for Málaga was born on my first visit to La Rosaleda to see the game against Sevilla on the last day of the 2002/2003 season. That night, everything was special. The atmosphere, the game, the drama. I was hooked. Two years later I bought my first subscription as a symbolic gesture, because I knew that one day I would live here », he confesses in the middle of the talk.
Malaga captivated him. He marked it in his diary. In his heart. Finally, what was a visit became a way of life. «It took me more than ten years to get it. Over the years, I came to Malaga regularly. I fell in love with the city, but I was not brave enough to move here immediately, instead I lived on the coast, in Benahavís, for a few years. Now I could not be happier living in the capital and going to La Rosaleda », he explains to Jot Down Places.
A question arises for many: how can this lack of self-love be improved? How to increase this concept of Malaga and Malaguista culture that they have in other parts of the world? How to be from Málaga if the team is in ruins? The businessman, who has lived in Malaga for years, has a possible roadmap: «If people were as proud of their football club as they are of being of this magnificent city, then La Rosaleda would sell out every week. But above all, we need some kind of success on the pitch. Goodwill is not enough.”
As a foreign blue and white legion, the Guiri Army, the Danish supporters club, the Finnish supporters club, the Norwegian Oso Polar supporters club or Málaga CF’s own international supporters club are not Juan, Pepe, Paco or Antonio. Are Robin, Lauri o David, foreigners residing on the Costa del Sol. It is not an impediment that they live in Benalmádena, Fuengirola, Mijas or in any coastal town. Faithful, loyal and in defense of the honor of the blue and white color. From their corner of the field they cheer with their immortal “Oh, Málaga is wonderful” or with “Everywhere you go…”. More lyrics and songs in English. The important thing is to encourage the team. Sunday after Sunday. Weekly communion at La Rosaleda.
Robin Howe, a member of the Guiri Army supporters club, is another clear example that malaguistas can be built on the basis of love for their homeland. He moved to the Costa del Sol in 2001. He has no other flag other than the blue and white colors that carry the shield of the club he loves. He gets twitchy with people who don’t defend his city club: «I carry Málaga in my heart and it will always be like that. I don’t understand the people who live here and aren’t malaguistas. I don’t understand how there are people who don’t come to the games, it’s crazy.
“We are going to La Rosaleda, which is an international field…” reads the club’s anthem. There is no shortage of nationalities at La Rosaleda. The foreigner is more Malaga and Malaguista than an inhabitant registered in any neighborhood of the capital. Curious paradox lived and observed for many seasons. Anything goes? For tastes, the colors; for passion, any team, but how good it sounds and how well the popular coplilla is sung: «Oh, Málaga is wonderful! It’s for the beer, the girls and the foreigners».
2023-07-26 07:00:24
#guiris #Rosaleda
