In the absence of solutions, affection is good. Spanish football, to be solemn, began yesterday in Ceuta the national tour of the De la Fuente (coach)-Louzán (RFEF president) tandem to showcase the World Cup and extend its effusions of national unity.
Read more Sánchez, before the Second Chamber
The lightning visit to give affection to Ceuta left two subtitles: the low profile of the agenda – without mass gatherings – and the claim that only Spain – and not Morocco – has the right to the 2030 World Cup final – organized by the two countries and Portugal – a match that promises and can contribute to bilateral détente or an ultranationalist spiral.
“Because of him, I have become fond of football and I already know what offside is,” a woman from Ceuta told Luis De la Fuente as he left the Ceuta Assembly Palace whose balconies seemed the appropriate setting to receive the applause of a crowd that was not summoned and, therefore, never existed. Privacy, solemnity, and a very affectionate institutional act were chosen but without the people of Ceuta.
“Ceuta is the place to be,” thanked President Juan Jesús Vivas before receiving a national team jersey with the number 26, posing in front of the World Cup, and claiming something that sounds good or very bad, depending on how you look at it: “there are few things in Spain as a whole with the power to unite as football does.”
Rafael Louzán and Luis De la Fuente knew how to convey affection, care, and what they call empathy to Ceuta in the figure of its top leader, representative of a generation – Vivas is 73 years old – to whom, in his youth, the Spanish national team only brought disappointments. “I have heard in Ceuta that they told me ‘you are our idol.’ No, you Ceutans, the caballas, are my idols and an example for the rest of Spain,” said Luis De la Fuente
The Africa Square in Ceuta, fortunate and symbolic, was almost deserted at the time of the event, four in the afternoon, except for a few autograph hunters and photo collectors for their social networks. Two groups of young Moroccans waited for De la Fuente and Louzán to come out to take pictures of them, without approaching. This writer did approach – what a feat! – without getting any comment because they said they did not speak or understand Spanish or French. “Only Arabic.” They wander cautiously through the nerve center of Ceuta, where the Ceuta Assembly Palace, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Africa, the general command, the cathedral, and the national parador La Muralla converge, whose atmosphere, suspended in time, is much liked by the living forces. The teenagers wander through the central area but in a calm, shy, and somewhat distrustful attitude towards those who speak to them.
Some young Moroccans observe the coach in the very Africa Square, the eternal Ceuta
Coach De la Fuente and President Louzán attended the media in the square for what they call a quick press session, which was productive because they did not avoid a matter that is gaining weight again in the bilateral crisis: who will take the prize of the 2030 World Cup final?
Note to the reader: the organization of the championship was initially requested from FIFA by Spain and Portugal. The choice was made in 2024, with Morocco joining the Iberian train in 2023. Whose idea was it? In 2018 and during his official visit to Rabat – it is customary that the first foreign visit of a president is to Morocco – Pedro Sánchez extended to King Mohammed VI the invitation for Morocco to join the Iberian bid. This happened but what seemed reserved for a secondary role can become another sour dispute: Rabat will play its cards to host the final in the spectacular stadium it is building in Casablanca.
Today, claiming the idea of adding Morocco to the bid does not grant popularity. President Louzán hinted in Ceuta that “as you know, I was not at that time” at the head of the RFEF. Who was in 2018 was Luis Rubiales, then in good harmony with Moncloa. Louzán proclaimed “that we must be the ones to organize the final.” Luis De la Fuente expressed himself with similar force in what is becoming a symbolic and dangerous struggle for those who thought a joint World Cup would improve relations between Spain and Morocco. To this day, it seems quite the opposite.
A boy wearing the national team jersey asked De la Fuente to sign some vintage stickers from the times when he was a player for Athletic Bilbao. The coach did so very kindly. There are few public figures in Spain so well accepted, perhaps because of his simplicity.
At the end, the boy reunited with his father, a high-ranking official who preferred to give only his name (Pedro). They have been in Ceuta for three five-year periods, had bought an apartment, felt comfortable… “and for the first time, we are thinking about requesting a transfer to the peninsula.”
Read more Shadow here shadow there
– And what about organizing the 2030 World Cup with Morocco?
– No way!
