"If they take us out of Gràcia, they will kill us"

BarcelonaThe oldest members of Europa, a founding club of the Spanish First Division in 1928, rub their eyes. After years of hardship and watching the Nou Sardenya stadium gradually empty, the Gràcia club has experienced a social and sporting renaissance in recent years. On Sunday, Europa secured promotion to the First Federation with one matchday remaining in the league, beating Elche B (0-1) with a goal from their eternal captain, Àlex Cano, who has played 500 matches for the club and is the second-highest scorer in history despite being a defender.

It had been thirty years since the club from Villa de Gràcia last played in the third tier of Spanish football, back in the 1994-95 season in the old Second Division B. This coming weekend could see the promotion of the first women's team to the Second Division of Spanish football. Europa is experiencing days of happiness.

With more than 2,800 members, four times more than three years ago, Europa has connected with young people who are looking for something in smaller venues that they can no longer find in other spaces: a club that is close and open to the community. Europa declared itself by statutes against fascism, sexism, racism and homophobia and grew socially alongside its rival, Sant Andreu, which is also going through a sweet moment, as demonstrated by this season's derbies like the one going to initially ended up suspended when a fence fell at the Nou Sardenya.

This season, few expected the team coached by former Girona player Aday Benítez to achieve promotion, because the group includes rivals with a much higher budget, such as Sabadell and Atlético Baleares. Furthermore, last summer half the squad left and a new project had to be started, starting with the manager. Benítez had barely a year of experience at L'Escala, but he managed to defeat his rivals to give Europe its second promotion in three years.

"On April 23rd, it was two years since this board of directors took office. At that time, the team had achieved promotion to the Second Federation and the objective was to consolidate our position in the category. But last year we were already ten minutes away from promotion in the last match (Hércules ended up going up), spectacular when we had a squad designed to avoid relegation," says Àlex López Vendrell, the club's vice president.

But Europa's success comes with some concern. According to Spanish Football Federation regulations, playing in the First Division requires a stadium with natural grass. And the Nou Sardinia is made of artificial turf. Installing natural grass is almost impossible because the pitch is located on a multi-story parking lot. The beginning of the case also dates back thirty years, around the time of the club's last promotion in 1994. In 1992, the Barcelona City Council, which owned the land where the club's old stadium stood, decided to completely renovate the facilities and demolished the old Cerdeña stadium. The renovations allowed for the construction of a multi-sport gym next to the pitch and underground parking. For three years, Europa played on the Martinenc and l'Horta fields, which were then dirt pitches. In 1995, they finally returned to a renovated Nuevo Cerdeña stadium.

But the Federation's current regulations threaten to expel Europa from Nuevo Cerdeña. "For now, we want to enjoy the promotion, but it's true that we've been in negotiations for weeks with the Spanish and Catalan Football Federations, and Barcelona City Council through Councilor David Escudé. Our only desire is to continue at the Nou Sardenya. We can't do it any other way; we're a team from Gràcia that has grown socially in the neighborhood. This is key. If they kick us out of the Nou Sardenya, we'll kill the club and the essence of football. Clubs should play in their locality," says López Vendrell.

"There's a lot of talk about the parking lot. Planting natural grass seems impossible because it would require a huge investment and monumental construction. It's unviable. And we have a second constraint: our field hosts youth and school matches, a key source of income and one of our points of pride. We like to create a community and have as many children as we have now. That would be detrimental to families, because in Barcelona we have a problem: there are no fields. "We're now talking with all the stakeholders; we'll go through the legal stages necessary to defend our desire to continue at the Nou Sardegna with artificial turf. We maintain that we can play if we implement a treatment that allows us to have FIFA approval, like the teams that play in the Champions League or Europa League. Will we have a Norwegian team? We can't? "With the improvements in artificial turf in recent years, this rule requiring playing on natural grass in the First, Second and First Federations makes no sense," adds López Vendrell.

Sant Andreu remains at the Narcís Sala

When a club is promoted to the First Division, it is allowed to continue playing on its home ground for six months even if it doesn't meet the requirements. Six months to adapt to the regulations. Europe will ask to extend the moratorium to one year to avoid leaving. "The City Council, the owner of the ground, supports us and reminds us that it makes no sense to ask to add natural fields today. It's less sustainable, as seen with the drought restrictions," says the manager. In Barcelona, ​​natural grass fields are the future Camp Nou, Montjuïc, and the Espanyol and Barça training centers outside Barcelona, ​​as well as Espanyol's home ground in Cornellà de Llobregat. "We can firmly say that we will not look for an alternative field in Palamós, Gavà, or other towns. We are a club deeply rooted in Gràcia, and I think we would lose our essence if we did this," explained president Héctor Ibar a few days ago.

Europe is not alone. Their derby rivals, Sant Andreu, can still move up to the First Federation in the play-off For which they have qualified. The Andreuense club also explains, through general manager José Manuel Pérez, that its future lies "solely and exclusively" with the Narcís Sala stadium. However, in their case, the stadium does allow for work to install natural grass if necessary, as discussed with the City Council. "We are talking, and there is a willingness on both sides," affirms Pérez.