“I didn’t know any players from Spain” | Relief

Perpignan (France).- “Spain knocked us out, so they deserve to win the European Cup,” the Frenchman said in a condescending tone in English. Perpignan after the first semi-final of the continental championship. “We are neighbors, but there is no malice on our part.“I think the Spanish hate us a little bit,” his girlfriend, dressed in Mbappe T-shirt“There is a real rivalry against England; football, historical and political,” he concluded.

During the match, in the bars on Avenida Maréchal Lecrec in Perpignan, there was a certain superiority on the part of the locals, as if, despite the final victory of the Spaniards, the French did not take De’s team seriously, or the country. “Until today I didn’t know a single player from Spain”— said the boy, almost a child, immediately after the game ended.

It was at that moment, when Slovenian Slavko Vincic blew his whistle, that one of the hundreds of fans crowded onto the terrace Cafe Delirium he started screaming “Come on, come on!”celebrating the result by waving their shirts in the air as if they were propellers. Some whistled timidly, but most reacted somewhere between indifference and laughter. “No, no, I’m not Spanish. It was just a joke. A joke.”” he reported shortly after, with some difficulty expressing his thoughts, from the bar, ordering three more beers.

At Au Fût, a bar just nearby, there were young man with spanish flag hung by the neck, but didn’t speak Spanish. Not even English. Same thing, I carried it pure joke, a kind of joke aimed at ridiculing a rival country. And he told this to all the French who asked him about it.

“There is a certain sense of superiority”

“Spain is not a problem for France and never has been. there is a certain sense of superiorityYes, indeed. The Spanish earn little, retire very late… That’s how they say it, as if Europe would end in the Pyrenees“Spain is considered a poorer country. In fact, almost everyone who lives near the border usually goes shopping at least once a month to La Jonquera or Figueres because it is much cheaper,” he says. Marty Mayorala native of Barcelona who has lived in Perpignan for many years. So, For the French, Spain is a southern countrywith all the negativity that the very fact of existence implies.

It is true that the average monthly salary, according to the 2023 Adecco report, varies greatly from country to country. From 1,822 charges in Spain to 2,574 in France.which represents a difference of almost 30%. “Although in practice Northern Catalonia region -where is the highest unemployment rate in the French country- It is much poorer, less industrialised and developed than the Girona area.For example. But people here don’t see it,” Mayoral describes.

“This vision may have changed a little in recent times, but traditionally from France Spain has always been perceived as a country that, in addition to economic, social and democratic aspects, lags behind by several years; This is a backward territory.“The fact that many Spaniards went into exile in the area during the war and Franco’s regime, or that until recently there was a dictatorship on the other side of the border, probably helped to generalize the idea,” said a middle-aged man named Paul in Catalan, who was watching the game at one of the tables at the back of the Les Dudu bar.

Triumph of the South

“You see how full the bars are tonight, Imagine what they will be like in the final on Sunday, France’s national day.“explained Paul’s younger teammate immediately after the goal. Colo Muani. So they promised each other very happily. And that’s what July 14 is a real holiday throughout the country. and this festive character carries over to any sporting event held on this day, such as the Tour de France. For a French cyclist, as well as for the local public, winning a stage on this day is no big deal.

So, after playing France, Eurocup final, July 14.Next Sunday, it would have been an exceptional event in the French state, unprecedented until now. But Lamin Jamal and Dani Olmo avoided it. “Spain ruined our party”” lamented the boy with his country’s flag painted on his cheek, not wanting to say a word as he walked out of the Delirium Cafe after saying goodbye to his friends on the night the south defeated the north.