It was impossible to calculate the number of citizens, dressed in red and white shirts, who crowded the streets of Madrid yesterday afternoon. Human crowds that congested the center of the capital. Children on shoulders. Waving of flags. But above all, hundreds of fans waving fans almost in unison to try to mitigate the 35 degrees that were hitting at five in the afternoon.
At that time, many were already saving a spot in the front row to see the open-top bus parade of the champions, which, starting in Moncloa, would end in Cibeles square, the epicenter of the football celebration where a gigantic stage was set up that hosted top-level performances, from Lola Índigo to Aitana. They wanted to be able to greet, and above all thank, the footballers who last Sunday, in New Jersey, achieved the second star.
Others hurried their pace to get to the start of the concerts, like a father with his two children walking down Paseo del Prado. They had just arrived from Seville, a 400-kilometer express trip, to be part of the big celebration and the shared joy of an entire country. "I remember perfectly the final of 2010... Now, the excitement is the same."
A few meters ahead, Nico and Raúl were entering Cibeles, aware that they would have to wait "more than four hours" to see their idols. But they didn't mind. "If I could say something to the players, it would simply be thank you. Thank you for fulfilling the dream of an entire country. We don't know when we will experience something like this again, so we are going to enjoy the night until the last minute," one of them replied with a smile.
As the hours passed, aerial images of the route where the bus with the world champions was passing showed the fervor with which society welcomed them. In Cibeles, after 7:30 p.m., not even a pin could fit. One of those excited attendees was Michael, a Croatian who could not experience the celebration of the 2024 Euro Cup in Spain.
He had to settle for celebrating the victory of La Roja in his home country, promising himself that the next time they lifted a trophy he would be present. So today he showed up at Barajas, after paying a 400 euro ticket that had a layover in Valencia. "I believed from the beginning that we were going to win."
Some of those present brought construction ladders with them to be able to see both the concerts and the players' arrival from afar. This was the case of Ibai, who arrived with one on his shoulder. "I wanted my six-year-old son to see his idols," he commented. The boy, excited, greeted the parade with chants of "champions, champions." Ibai was not the only one who used this technique. Throughout the entire route, the same scene was repeated: dozens and dozens of ladders turned, for a day, into improvised stands from which the youngest enjoyed a privileged view.
According to data from the Government Delegation, yesterday more than two million people took to the streets of the capital, with over 120,000 in Cibeles square. During the open-top bus parade, Ferran Torres, the scorer of the final, was seen shirtless, a gesture also made by Marcos Llorente. Also, Borja Iglesias, in charge of livening up the party by acting as a DJ at a mixing table, supported by the full-back Pedro Porro, microphone in hand. Together, they sang "Happy Birthday" to their teammate Álex Baena, born on July 20, 2001. As they passed by, some fans threw objects at them, mainly flags and small balls, although few reached their target and ended up bouncing off the vehicle.
"We can't move forward, we won't see anything from here," lamented a group of lagging teenagers, who chose to approach the epicenter of the celebration when the heat subsided. Pablo, another teenager who didn't want to miss this event, had been in Belgium during the past week, at a music festival. "I went with my Spanish flag, but I put it away on the second day because people were talking to me about the final and it made me very nervous... I could hardly enjoy the festival," he confessed with laughter.
It was by chance that he returned to Spain on the same day as the final. His flight made a stop in Alicante, and from there, he took a train to Madrid. At 8:23 p.m., he recalls, he arrived at Chamartín station. And just in time, he ran through the station while hailing a taxi to get home and sit in front of the TV to "suffer like he had never done before with football." "Talking to the taxi driver, of course, about the match, he told me that he didn't plan to make any more trips. But, seeing that my destination was close to where he lives, he decided to do me the favor of taking me. It's a gesture that I will always be grateful for," he remembers.
With marked dark circles, Mario continued the celebration of Sunday's victory with his workday. And, despite having slept only a couple of hours, he showed up at Cibeles to continue the party. His favorite players, he claimed, were Marc Pubill and Marcos Llorente. There was no need to ask which team he supported, as he had a Spanish flag with the Atlético de Madrid crest around his neck. And he concluded to continue his revelry: "Cheers to all of them. What they have done will not be done by any other national team, and I am sure that in 2030 the Cup will be ours again."