The rebirth of Barcelona's most rebellious football club

BarcelonaExactly a century ago, many people understood that football was no ordinary sport. One hundred years ago, the Spanish authorities indignantly received a telegram informing them that a crowd in Barcelona had booed the Marche Real, the national anthem. And they did so during the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. The booing took place on June 14, 1925, before a friendly match between Barça and Júpiter at Les Corts stadium, organized to pay tribute to the Orfeó Català, who were returning from a successful tour of Rome. The match was a duel between Barça, who had been crowned Spanish Cup champions, and Júpiter, champions of the Spanish B division. The booing provoked a fierce crackdown by the authorities against Barça, which almost disappeared. But it has been more hidden in the history books that the numerous Júpiter fans also booed. And the club was also punished by the authorities.

It was one of the many acts of rebellion by a brave club, the Jupiter, who has been on the ropes more than once. But he always gets back up. A few days ago, almost coinciding with the centenary of the whistle, Júpiter achieved promotion to the Elite League (sixth tier of football) after a play-off A close match with the Pirinaica de Manresa. After losing 1-0 in the first leg, Júpiter won the second leg 2-0 with a late goal from Sergi Monsó. Beyond the promotion, the veterans at Júpiter were rubbing their eyes at the sight of 3,000 people in a stand that until recently sometimes didn't even reach 500. As is the case in Sant Andreu or in Gràcia with Europa, Júpiter is also experiencing a social renaissance, and many people are meeting up. "The neighborhood and the fans are proud of us. It's a historic club that deserves to be higher. For now, we've taken this first step, and now we must digest the promotion to the Elite League," said Monsó after a match that ended with a pitch invasion. "We've regained our passion for the Jupiter. It was a joy to see so many spectators at the stadium. We can only promise to continue working hard to achieve more success," added president Salvador Franco.

It hasn't been easy in a football world that competes with so much television, new trends, and problems. Especially for Júpiter, a club that was expelled from its hometown of Poblenou by the Francoist authorities. Jupiter He took root in La Verneda, but without forgetting his roots. In fact, many of the fans come from families who were originally from Poblenou and have also left this increasingly expensive neighborhood. A flag with the face of one of Poblenou's symbols, the little saint, is often displayed in the stands: Francesc Canals, a warehouse worker who died in 1899 at the age of 22 and is said to perform miracles. Every season, some Júpiter fans make an offering at the beginning of the season in the Poblenou cemetery, just in case it might help.

Júpiter was born on May 12, 1909, in the Cebrián brewery, where the Tio Che horchatería is now located. The club's parents were David Mauchan and his brothers, Scottish workers at the Fabra i Coats textile factory. The name was inspired by a large hot-air balloon that impressed at an exhibition at the time, but Júpiter quickly took on a personality of its own, marked by the fact that Poblenou was full of factories... and left-wing workers. Those working-class and unionist ideals, as well as its original crest consisting of the four Catalan bars and a star on top, turned Júpiter into a very repressed club. In the Jupiter Both anarchists and Catalanists found a home, and in fact, the club would host both presidents Macià and Companys. The authorities understood the crest to be a Catalanist symbol, so they tried to change it several times, such as with a complaint filed by investigating judge Cristóbal Fernández before the civil governor of Barcelona regarding the Catalanist content of the emblem. It was said that during the dictatorship, the Júpiter hid pieces of disassembled pistols inside footballs to hide them from the police. No document confirms this, but it is known that militias left the club's grounds for the front. Back then, the game was played at Camp de la Bota, where several Júpiter members would be shot by Franco's supporters years later.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, the Júpiter became a meeting place for Republican sympathizers, a stance that was punished with Franco's rise to power. Under the Franco dictatorship, they were forced to change their emblem again and saw their name changed to Club Deportivo Hércules. There was also an attempt to make it a subsidiary of Espanyol, but the blue-and-white entity rejected it, precisely because of Júpiter's working-class, unionist, and Catalan origins. Although the club reverted to its name a year later, Franco's cruelty continued, and it also underwent a change of headquarters, eventually settling in the Sant Martí district. That club, which could have aspired to play in the Second Division, gradually dropped in divisions, creating a rivalry with Martinenc, which this year filled the fields in a season in which both were promoted. But young people no longer went to the fields until recently. The political stance of groups like Reducto GrisGrana and the defense of a sport rooted in the community have attracted many young people, many of them supporters of other clubs like Barça or Sant Andreu. Others already have Jupiter at the center of their lives. In recent years, Jupiter has made friends with clubs like Clapton's English to remember the Second Republic and the International BrigadesHe's also run anti-racism campaigns and revived old Meyba T-shirts, which are increasingly being worn by young people.