Pedrerol and the unity of Spain

On Monday at noon, the shockwave of the Spanish national team's victory in the World Cup reached the sports news. The feeling of collective euphoria was a common point across all programs. But where the idea of unanimity was most emphasized was in Jugones, Josep Pedrerol's show on La Sexta's afternoon slots. “The whole of Spain vibrated with the national team. This is how Ferran's goal was experienced in... Barcelona, for example”. The "for example" tried to pretend it was a randomly chosen city, but the intention was clear. Barcelona was the first snapshot of an explosion of celebration across Spain, to which images from Madrid and Seville were later added. The program also emphasized the spirit of Spanishness that had invaded the Basque Country: “This was sung in Bilbao. Euphoria also broke out there”, they said. And they showed images of a group of boys hugging, chanting the traditional “I am Spanish, Spanish, Spa-a-a-nish!” Pedrerol insisted on this idea of absolute unanimity: “In the big cities and in the villages. Children and adults. All of Spain united by the national team”. The subsequent voice-over of the video insisted on this idea of a “united country”, always starting with Barcelona, with a girl sticking half her body out of the car to wave a large Spanish flag. Then images from Madrid, Valencia, and Badajoz were shown, and Mataró and Terrassa were incorporated among towns like Jerez de la Frontera, El Cuervo, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The ripple effect of Spanish pride. It is logical that, from the state's point of view, this idea of a homogeneous mosaic that does not take into account dissidences, reticences, or other sensitivities is sought. But in a subtle way, this desire to underline and exhibit Spanish fervor in Catalonia was appreciated in a program that, during the time of the Procés, exuded contempt for any claim, not just for independence, but for Catalan identity.On La 1's Telediario they used the headline "One country, one cry: champions", which also seemed to allude to this unity of feeling. However, they did include in the rundown the news about the violent attacks that had occurred in Bilbao and Navarra in areas where fans had gathered in front of a big screen to cheer on the Spanish team. Another differentiating fact of Spanish public television was the image of Pedro Sánchez's presence at the match. In the Telediario they showed the photograph of the Spanish president greeting Donald Trump in the stands. The rest of the sports programs avoided the scene and Sánchez was made invisible. Trump took all the spotlight, following his desire to appear in the photo of the champions lifting the cup. Then they say that thing about separating politics from football, but only when it's convenient and as long as it doesn't affect their ideology or their conception of what Spain should be.