Live video | The celebration of Athletic and the journey of the barge through Bilbao | Soccer | Sports

The Athletic barge returns to ply the Nervión estuary this Thursday, forty years after it did so for the last time, in 1984, when the red-and-white club won the League and the Cup. This time a new Cup title, achieved last Saturday in La Cartuja on penalties against Mallorca after six lost cup finals since the last one they had achieved (four defeats against Barça, another against Atlético and one against Real Sociedad), has taken the legendary boat out of dry dock in the one that was in the Itsasmuseum Bilbao (the Maritime Museum). The barge, which will sail accompanied by a total of 160 boats and 32 trawlers, will depart from the Real Club Marítimo del Abra in Getxo at 4:30 p.m. and is expected to arrive at Bilbao City Hall around 6:30 p.m. It will thus go up the estuary passing by several Biscayan towns that make up Greater Bilbao, with the Athletic players greeting hundreds of thousands of fans who will gather on both banks of the estuary: Portugalete, Sestao, Barakaldo, Erandio, and finally Bilbao.

The boat, barely 80 tons, 18.5 meters long, 8.5 meters wide and very shallow draft, has been floating in the estuary since Monday afternoon, and will depart this Thursday from Getxo to Bilbao with the red and white players and the Cup. Moments before beginning the lifting maneuvers, which were followed with great expectation by hundreds of people stationed on both banks of the estuary, the vice president of Athletic and director of the Bilbao Maritime Museum, Jon Ruigómez, highlighted that the barge is a boat typical of the estuary since the origins of Bilbao, which “is a port before it is a town.” According to him, the fact that it is a port vessel has “a special meaning for a different club like Athletic,” recalling that the first record of the barge as a “symbol of triumph and celebration is in 1925, when Athletic took an example.” of the Acero Club of Olabeaga” and, later, in the 80s he witnessed “the great triumphs of the two leagues and the cup.”

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The event will have extensive security, since, if in the celebrations of the 80s “there were a million people, we hope that something similar will be repeated now,” said Ruigómez. A maximum of 60 people will board the barge, accompanying players and managers, and 160 boats and 32 trawlers will escort the boat to Bilbao City Hall. “We are proud that a sport as close to us as rowing is present in a celebration like this by the Athletic Club, which is going to be a beautiful spectacle,” said the vice president.

Within the program of events to celebrate Athletic Club’s 25th Cup title, and once the barge completes its journey, it will be the turn of the institutional receptions by the Bilbao City Council and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, as well as the consequent greetings from the champion team from the balconies of the town hall and provincial buildings. The barge is scheduled to dock next to the City Hall bridge between 6:30 and 7:00 p.m. The mayor of Bilbao, Juan Mari Aburto, accompanied by the municipal delegation, will receive the champion team on the steps of the Town Hall. After the aurresku of tribute and welcome, the institutional reception will continue in the Arab Room, where the mayor and the president, the coach and the captain of the Athletic Club will give some short protocol speeches. Finally, the champions will appear on the balcony to greet the fans.

Approximately one hour after arriving at the City Hall, between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., the champion team will go by bus through the Arenal and the Plaza Circular to the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, where they will be received by the general deputy of Bizkaia, Elixabete Etxanobe. As in the Town Hall, in the reception hall of the Foral Palace there will be brief protocol speeches from the general deputy, president, coach and captain of Athletic. The general deputy will be accompanied by the members of the Provincial Government and the mayors of Bizkaia, along with the spokespersons of the General Meetings who wish to attend the reception for the team. The program of events will come to an end with the greeting to the fans of the champion team from the balcony of the Provincial Council building.

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2024-04-11 14:14:01
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