On Saturday, February 1, 1986, Spain voted “yes” in favor of joining NATO, the Sevillian bullfighter Antonio Bienvenida died in Madrid at the age of 63, a cork factory burned in the Polígono de la Carretera Amarilla, the world continued … shocked by the explosion a few days before the space shuttle Challenge and Real Betis Balompié and Sevilla Fútbol Club were gathering for their matches twenty-four hours later against Athletic Bilbao and Real Valladolid. And the undersigned entered ABC, even with the clatter of linotypes announcing good (and bad) news and the aroma of ink permeating every corner.
And I did it in the Sports section, where gossip says that those orphans of wisdom are banished. I will never be grateful enough that my father, a Cantabrian from Pesues, who came to Seville at the age of fourteen to work in the hospitality industry, was a football heretic and took me and my mother to both fields since I was little. The childhood passion eventually led to a profession and, more importantly, a way of understanding rivalry far removed from dogmatism and Sevillian cannibalism.
You may wonder about the abscess in my navel that prompted me today, February 1, 2026, to write this to you, and you won’t give a damn, red or green. A resource, forgive me, to confirm that forty years are nothing. A sigh for those who entered this second House young to work in the pit and leave it, a long time ago for a small plot that they generously offered me in its pages, a veteran. My thanks to everyone who made the journey enjoyable. To the directors who trusted me (oh, Manuel Ramírez Fernández de Córdoba, how quickly you left us!); to my editorial colleagues, who gifted me with their talent and friendship; to the staff of the different departments, always willing to help; to colleagues from other media, so much affection; to the leaders and employees of the clubs and federations, respectful in their treatment even when they were rude; to my family, for my many hours of absence.
And, of course, to you, dear readers, who opened wide the doors of your homes to me. Be happy and see you forever.
