What Plaza de Colón in the center of Madrid lacks in elegance and romance, it more than makes up for in patriotic fervor and the allure of its extraordinary flags.
By 8pm local time on Sunday, the square was filled with thousands of spectators gathered around giant screens to cheer on Spain. La Roja They are now ready to take on England in their quest to win their fourth European Championship.
Flying overhead, opposite the statue of Christopher Columbus for whom the square is named, is Spain’s largest flag: a magnificent banner measuring 21 metres long, 14 metres wide and weighing 35 kilograms, roughly the weight of a sizeable adult Alsatian dog.
Still, the crowds brought some flags of their own just in case, and the capital’s subway was reminiscent of the Spanish strip and Rojiguardas It is tied around the neck and worn as a cape.
Spain’s desire to win was boosted by Carlos Alcaraz’s straight-set defence of his Wimbledon title just hours earlier.
“I’ve already done my job,” Alcaraz said after the win. “Now let’s focus on football. It’s going to be a really difficult game.”
Madrid’s mayor, José Luis Martínez Almeida, agreed: “A great start to an afternoon from Spain, and now we’re going to finish it off!”
With SW19’s honour in place, all eyes shifted from 21-year-old Alcaraz to 17-year-old Lamine Yamal, who had broken through at Euro 2024, and his team-mates.
“Tonight is a matter of pride for Spain,” said Javier Adzuar, 21, from Elche.
“Alcaraz had a great tennis win, but football is much more important. I expect Ramin Yamal and Nico Williams to score tonight.”
Adzuar also felt the time had come to give a little belated praise to Spain manager Luis de la Fuente – after all, he has come a long way since last year’s painful and ignoble qualifier defeat to Scotland.
“At the beginning of the tournament I wasn’t sure about de la Fuente, but now he’s a god to me.”
His friend, Gabriel Paco, had little doubt about the outcome of the match: “Spain will win because we are really strong and have a better team than England.”
Violeta Macià, who had come to Madrid from Alicante with her friend Maria José Rodríguez and his 10-year-old daughter Adriana, was a bit more cautious in her predictions.
“I think Spain will win, but it will be a difficult match because there are a lot of expectations and football is a difficult business.”
Adriana, a soccer enthusiast, was prepared to take more risks. What would the final score be? “Spain wins 2-1,” she replied without hesitation.
For some, the match between Spain and England carried extra weight and importance. An editorial in El Pais newspaper on Sunday noted:Young, hungry and diverse, the team succeeded where so many others had failed by uniting a divided and discordant nation.
“At a time when polarization and division seem to dominate private and public conversations in Spanish politics and social life, the success of the Spanish football team has become a joyous meeting point for millions of Spanish citizens,” the paper noted.
As kickoff approached, the square’s bass-heavy sound system turned up the volume, “Viva Espana” blared from the speakers, and the flag-waving crowd, spraying pink smoke across the plaza, broke out into a surprisingly coordinated chorus.
Ruben Rodriguez, 22, from the capital, was already buoyed by Alcaraz’s win, which he believed was a good omen. As he waited for friends and a stockpile of booze to arrive, he expressed optimism about Sunday’s prospects.
“It’s always difficult to play against a team that scores goals in the final seconds of the game, so I think it’s going to be a tough match,” he said, “but I still think we can get the winning goal we need. And Carlos Alcaraz is the best tennis player in the world, maybe one of the best in history. Maybe we can win the double. Today could be the day.”
