Sant Pere de Ribes, the Catalan town where Ballon d'Or pride reigns most

Saint Peter of Ribes"Those of us who are from Ribes will always tell you that we are very much from Ribes; you'll see, ask whoever you want!" says Rubén Bernardo, who has been a coach at Club Deportiu Ribes for over two decades, with a friendly smile. "Apart from being president, I've done almost everything. I'm older than the crest!" he jokes. It's not unusual to see Rubén happy, but this Tuesday he is especially cheerful: Aitana Bonmatí, whom he coached as a child, has won his third Ballon d'Or"I didn't expect it, I jumped off the sofa! I was watching it at home with my wife, Lidia, and my son, Pau, who also played with Aitana as a child, and we were so happy," he says. Aitana's pride is the pride of a good part of Sant Pere de Ribes, a town of just over 30,000 inhabitants in the Garraf region where the newly crowned Ballon d'Or winner grew up and still lives.

The midfielder lives in an apartment very close to Plaça Marcer, one of the town's nerve centers. There she likes to meet up with her lifelong friends, the ones she went to the Escola El Pi with and with whom she started playing football on a team made up entirely of boys. They sit together on the terraces that fill this pretty square, where an estelada (Spanish star) and a flag in support of Palestine also wave. As a true Ribétana, she enjoys living in the town where she grew up and which she loves. Last Saturday, before traveling with Barça to play in Seville, he had lunch at the Cabaler Café. Nearby is the Ribes Aitana Bonmatí Barça Supporters' Club, where the vermouth cocktails have iconic names linked to football. "I did expect her to win the Ballon d'Or; don't make me tell you why, but I had that feeling, look," says Jordi Vilalta, who runs the morning shift at the supporters' bar.

In fact, the story has spread that the trophy was unexpected for Aitana, but those close to the footballer recall that while "it was a more evenly matched Ballon d'Or than in recent years, I was also convinced I could win it." The Barça player was named MVP of the Champions League and the European Championship. Her parents' absence from the gala was due to protocol: she could only bring two companions. They were Cristian Martín, her manager and friend, who has been with her throughout her professional career, and Adrià Segura, a lifelong friend of Ribes's who was especially excited to attend the gala.

The beginnings in the schoolyard

It only takes a few minutes to walk from Plaça Marcer to reach Escola El Pi. There, we are greeted by a happy and proud Lluís Molina, who has been teaching at the school for almost 20 years and who had Aitana in sixth grade. Back then, he was her Spanish teacher. "We're very happy about her third Ballon d'Or. She's always been very hardworking and competitive, which goes a long way to explaining her achievements. She wasn't a brilliant student, but with effort and hard work, she got good grades." Lluís explains this about the court where Aitana played when she was in school, which in May 2021 was renamed Pati 14, in collaboration with the Johan Cruyff Foundation, of which she is an ambassador. "I remember the times in the playground, where she was already showing promise and everyone wanted to support her team because that's what almost always won. The children were sometimes envious and angry, seeing that the only girl playing was better than them," he says.

From a very young age, envy has dogged her. "Once, when she came to training, her mother told me she didn't want to get out of the car because of how the other kids were dragged along with her. And you had to talk and convince her a little. Sometimes they were jealous because a girl stood out more than them," explains Rubén Bernardo. "In her generation, when she was a junior, we played eleven-a-side football on the pitch, not seven-a-side football like a few years ago, and she wasn't afraid. I remember how she finished with her head! Something that usually scares kids at that age," he adds.

Aitana's great influence

In Ribes, there are many places that breathe life and recall Aitana Bonmatí. From the murals you can find around town to the football stadium that also bears her name. Since her first major sporting successes, both with Barça and the Spanish national team, the number of boys and girls signing up to the club "where Aitana played" has multiplied, Rubén recalls. "Since her first Champions League title in 2021, the 2023 World Cup... and with the Pelotas de Oro and everything, we've gone from having five women's teams to fourteen. And if we don't have more, it's because our facilities are limited. We have an agreement with the City Council to build a new 7-a-side football pitch."

Aitana is a role model for many boys and girls who want to play football, not only in Ribes. Lluís Cortés, the coach with whom she won her first Champions League, values ​​her evolution: "At 14 or 15 years old, when I had her in the Catalan national team, you could already see that she was a super competitive and ambitious player. She wanted to play and be important, and all this has been a process, because at Barça she had a period when she started doing everything even after she wasn't playing anymore, but she always wants more. She is very demanding of herself with her performance.

"Over the years, she has improved physically and also technically, although she has always been very good in this aspect. "There's been a lot of work done, for example, on playing with her left foot, her less agile side, and she's also learned a lot about reading the game, by asking questions and working," adds Balaguer's coach. "She's also a much more mentally mature player now, better at controlling her impulses and managing matches," concludes Cortés, who celebrates the fact that Catalan women's football continues to accumulate Ballon d'Or awards. A pride that can be felt firsthand in Ribes.