Amazing scenes in Marbella as Spain wins World Cup Semi-final
I’m not a fan of football, but I must say that the way Spain plays is a joy to watch. What’s also great is the reaction to the game which is wonderfully flamboyant. Yesterday, for the first time we decided to go and watch the game in a local tapas bar and I am so glad we did.
It was packed with Spaniards in their red and gold and every touch of the ball for either side resulted in gasps, screams, shouts and waving arms. When the goal was scored the whole place errupted and we received hugs and high-fives from everyone nearby. The bar tender put music on and for about 5 minutes, they seemed to forget the game was going on and just danced, cheered and celebrated.
The last few frantic minutes with Germany’s attempts on goal was heart stopping, every person was screaming and shouting “peligro” (danger) “cuidado” (be careful) and many other unmentionable words. The atmosphere was so electric that even the most ardent hater of football would have been drawn in. On the blowing of the final whistle it was chaos, everyone jumping about, hugging eachother and the music back on full blast!
What happened next really blew me away. Everyone cleared out of the bar in minutes and the streets were packed with supporters draped in the national colours, shouting and screaming and blowing air hornsย and cars with people hanging out of the windows with huge flags sounding their horns. The noise was ear-splitting. We followed the crowds into theย centre of Marbella and there in the middle of the road were thousands of supporters celebrating en mass. The police had closed off the road to cars to let the fans enjoy themselves and everywhere you looked were flags and celebrations and the biggest noise I’ve heard, it really was the most amazing atmosphere.
We then went down to the sea front andย joined everyone for ice creams to continue the party. Every minute or so a newย group of people would come down shouting and waving flags and it would set off everyone in the bars and ice cream parlours again. Then cars with open tops and loads of people would come down sounding their horn and off everyone would go again – itย really was amazingย and I’m sure it carried on well into the night!
For me this was a wonderful exampleย of the vibrantย Spanish society that exists in this part of the Costa del Sol and the warm, open,ย passionate spiritย Spaniards have. It was an honour to celebrate this victory with them and we’ll certainly be investing in Spanish flags for the final on Sunday! Here’sย a phone video of the crowds,ย itยดs not great quality but you can certainly hear it ifย you can’t see it.