The Pride of Vallekas

These examples are countless. These examples of perseverance and dedication are inspiring. This is the story of a player who made his professional debut at the age of 30 - and yet, on the way, dropped a division to help his local club to promotion. And he's still going strong - and is about to turn 33. This is the story of a tireless career, and the tireless midfielder behind it. Cáceres, in Extremadura, is no ordinary town. This town was the birthplace of Spain's tourism industry - in 1846 the bullring of Cáceres ( Plaza de Toros de Cáceres ) was inaugurated and brought in tourists from near and far. Franco established his headquarters here in August 1936, before starting his advance to Madrid. In July 1937, Republican forces bombed this town. Caught up in the Civil War, a town that became the symbol of a local, self-sufficient service sector and tourism economy also became the town symbolized with the construction industry. With hard work. He is cacereño thr...

Sometimes a blog entry becomes less about the subject matter and how it came about. I was going to publish this piece a week ago, and it started it like this: "This weekend, Rayo Vallecano will face Córdoba, coached by Juan Merino. The former center-back, and Real Betis and Recreativo legend, was born in La Línea de la Concepción, in Andalusia, and is one of its most famous sons. But there is another, lesser known, face of the city. He is no Betis legend, or even a Recreativo one. Heck, he hasn't even played professional football so far." But on the 4th of December, Juan Merino was sacked. Nevertheless, he has been replaced by Jorge Romero, and this piece remains hanging in the air. Oh well... "The very name La Línea de la Concepción is a reminder of Gibraltar's proximity. The town derives its name firstly from the línea or boundary line separating Spain from Gibraltar, and secondly from the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. The town...

Not so long ago, Spanish politics was a two-party system. The conservative center-right People's Party (Partido Popular or PP) and the center-left Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español or PSOE). There are regional parties that also play an important role, but let's just focus on the first two. After the 15-M movement (15th May, 2011), which was an anti-austerity movement which shook Spain to its very core, two more parties came to prominence. One was a left-wing, anti-austerity, populist party called Podemos led by Pablo Iglesias, a professor; the other was a centrist party called Citizens (Ciudadanos), a Catalan party that opposes Catalan nationalism and is led by Albert Rivera. The December 2015 national elections ended the two-party system - PP, PSOE, Podemos and C's got 123, 90, 69 and 40 seats respectively, and with 176 seats needed to form a government predictably nothing happened. A June 2016 election did little to resolve the...

When Spain was internationally isolated under Franco, Real Madrid's European Cup titles provided political capital for the dictator - a way of showing success and prosperity. One minister even went on to say "Real Madrid are the best ambassadors we've ever had". Talk about out-of-touch with the country. It was Atlético - the team of the working class at the time, that regularly chanted that Real was "el equipo del gobierno, la vergüenza del país". The team of the government, the shame of the country. It's amazing to think that were it not for the rise of the modern ultra movement, and Rayo Vallecano's rise into professional football which meant they became known as the "true" left-wing club in Madrid, Atlético would have been the sole symbol of resistance in Madrid. But they are an important symbol nevertheless, perhaps undercut by Atlético moving stadiums. The location of the Vicente Calderón symbolized local engagement, being near...

Given the Roman Zozulya case, here is a list of players who've played in Spain and have political views (I'll keep adding to this list in the future, but here's what I found so far.) Arda Turan Friend of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and a hearty advocate of his economic policy. He said in an interview: “There is a tiny bit of volatility in the exchange rate...I believe that interest rates need to fall. Salva Ballesta  Former striker. Played for seven La Liga clubs (eight is the record). Nationalistic, far-right viewpoints. When sent off for Málaga against CA Osasuna, whose fans include supporters of Basque independence, he shouted to them "¡Que viva España, hijos de puta!" (Long live Spain, sons of bitches!). Fans of Basque team Real Sociedad displayed a banner reading "Salva, muérete" (Salva, die) when he visited their Anoeta Stadium. Had a dislike for Barcelona defender Oleguer Presas, saying that he had more respect for "dog crap...

This is in light of  Pablo Iglesias winning 89% of the vote to become the secretary-general of the Podemos party.  A quick lesson on Spanish political lesson - there are two major parties. The conservative center-right People's Party (Partido Popular or PP) and the center-left Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español or PSOE). There are regional parties that also play an important role, but let's just focus on the first two. After the 15-M movement (15th May, 2011), which was an anti-austerity movement which shook Spain to its very core, two more parties came to prominence. One was a left-wing, anti-austerity, populist party called Podemos led by Pablo Iglesias, a professor; the other was a centrist party called Citizens (Ciudadanos), a Catalan party that opposes Catalan nationalism and is led by Albert Rivera. The December 2015 national elections ended the two-party system - PP, PSOE, Podemos and C's got 123, 90, 69 and 40 seats res...