The Pride of Vallekas

I get it now. I get why I support Rayo. Watching the game against Gimnàstic, I realized why my heart belongs to a working-class district in Madrid I've never been to, to a club that smears its own fans and a side that should be competing against Barcelona and Real Madrid but instead plays Reus Deportiu and Mirandés*. It wasn't the 2-0 win. Or the incessant wave of attack after attack. Or the intricate passing patterns breaking down a resolute defense. It wasn't Roberto Trashorras, who had one of his best games in a Rayo shirt and created chance after chance. Or Ernesto Galán, who kept Nàstic's entire left side silent. Or Adrián Embarba, who exposed right back Gerard Valentín's foraying runs forward** with pace and trickery. Or Fran Beltrán, who defended with heart and attacked with skill. Or Antonio Amaya, who calmly kept and distributed the ball. Or even Míchel and his calm demeanor. It's because there is a fight that Rayo fans are fighting and they...

The Hinchas y Jugadores project was founded with the aim of bringing fans and footballers together. It is convenient to think of fans as fanatics and footballers as pawns on a tactics board. It is convenient. It is also wrong. Behind the scenes, fans and footballers are people, and their stories deserve to be heard. And what makes it beautiful is that all those stories, no matter the source, are connected by the sport they love. This project will last 19 consecutive days. Why 19, you ask? Because 19 is the number of autonomous communities and cities in Spain, a regionalism that is often contentious in its existence yet celebrated for its diversity. Because it was in 1919 that King Alfonso XIII of Spain came to the throne - the last monarch until the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931. Because Spain's U-19 team is one of the most successful in the world. Because La Liga players have accumulated a record 19 Ballon d'Or awards. Because I discovered a surpris...