Spain's football euphoria doesn't extend to everyone

Spain's football euphoria doesn't extend to everyone

Football has once again imposed its law: the Spanish national team has just won the World Cup, collecting the Ballon d'Or, Best Young Player and Golden Glove awards, and the streets are boiling over with flags. But the enthusiasm is not unanimous. A section of the population watches the carousel of celebrations with skepticism, if not outright hostility.

The pride some feel and others reject

For those celebrating, the victory is a many-sided revenge: against the independence movement, against the left that scorns national symbols, against international figures who look down on Spain, such as Donald Trump. The joy is mixed with a political discourse that turns every goal into a weapon against adversaries. "Just seeing the 'argensimios' crying and the separatists braying has made it all worthwhile," reads one post on social media.

On the opposite side, there are those who don't recognize the country that is celebrating. Their narrative is that of a state that exploits, humiliates and gives nothing in return. "I'm not going to celebrate anything when day in and day out I feel that Spain steals my sweat and my life's effort," sums up a stance that rejects the euphoria as a smokescreen hiding the real problems: precariousness, degraded institutions, lack of opportunities.

Football as a substitute for tribal warfare

There is also an anthropological view: football would be a substitute for tribal struggles, a channel for ancestral violence. Without it, men would be killing each other even more, some argue. But that social function fails to convince the disengaged, who see the ball as a spectacle foreign to their lives.

The divide is not new, but sporting success amplifies it. For as long as the title hangover lasts, the fracture will remain: a Spain that embraces the flag, and another that sees it as someone else's rag. Football unites, yes; but it also exposes the cracks in a country that cannot feel like a team even when it wins.