Oil of olé

Today is my first back in the office since last Friday (today's Thursday, by-the-way).  I've spent the interim in Andalusia, my favourite part of Spain.  And we spent most of that time in Cádiz, probably my favourite city on Earth after London.

We've been there before of course, but this time I got to go and see Cádiz FC play a home game finally.  They say you should never meet your heroes, but this lot did not disappoint.  Cádiz play in about the lowest stratum of professional football available in Spain, and they don't do that with any great aplomb most of the time.  That said, however, their fans refuse to be downhearted about it.  They make a point of turning up to matches drunk and then singing the praises of beer, their own team's ineptitude, the merits of the refereeing decisions and the goals scored by the opposition.  It's as much fun as it sounds.

The plazas around the ground were rammed full of young men on the afternoon of the game, all skinning-up and drinking furiously.  This to mine jaundiced English eye it looked a recipe for disaster.  But once you sidled-up to the throng it was clear there would be no bother here.  Cádiz is a club that wears its inclusive, anti-discriminatory heart on its sleeve.  If you've made the effort to turn up, you're welcome as far as the Cádistas are concerned.  Also, as is common in Spanish football, all generations were represented in the stands.  Young parents brought their infant children along, and the couple in directly in front of us were in their dotage.  The senora sported a bright yellow diaphanous scarf in place of the otherwise obligatory replica jersey to show her allegiance.

The football, too, was glorious.  Cádiz won at a canter and the quality of the football was extremely high.  Even the missus enjoyed it, and she hates football.  The only downside of going to football in Spain is that it ruins the English version for me.  Paying thirty quid to stand on a draughty terrace and listen to embittered old racists vent their spleens for two hours is not my idea of fun, but that's the reality of the professional game in this country.

Alas...