The Futbol Club Barcelona celebrated at the Palau de la Música a compilation event of the best moments of the club's 125th anniversary, in a radio podcast format and with moments of great emotional charge. Both institutions met again one hundred years after their simultaneous closure under the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, and staged a song to the most positive values that unite them: Catalanism, resilience, excellence, and humanity. An event that included speeches, music, audiovisuals, and personal recognitions.
Sara Loscos and Andreu Juanola have been hosting the podcast La llotja del 125 for months, a conversation space where various protagonists of Barça's history have passed through. This, however, has been its last edition: Wednesday, June 25, Palau de la Música closed to members, presidential box full, and blaugrana staging, with a radio studio table in the center where the Cruyffist motto Queremos el balón (We want the ball) is read. We will discover the lineup step by step: for now, the Orfeó sings the anthem L'escut al pit (The shield on the chest), which has accompanied us throughout this year, and the celebration begins.
The first player to come out is David Carabén, commissioner of the year, who talks to us about concepts in the form of headlines or chapters: "enjoy, share and win" as a philosophy; "a club owned by its members," as a warning to navigators for the skeptical; "a multi-sport club," meaning it doesn't beat around the bush, and an obligatory reference (once again) to the Cruyff style: Masia, possession, team play.
He also mentions the year's logo, which sought to combine the look of an old leather ball with a modern one and the emblematic number. Without forgetting, of course, the club's identification with political Catalanism: despite having been founded by expats, it was they who saw in Catalanism a tool for integration and, at the same time, for openness and modernity. Those were times of modernism, indeed. And of Renaixença. That is why Barça continues to represent, for many, the symbolic reserve of what the country can do when it dares and when it puts all its passion into it.
Yes, Barceló's poster has been "much commented on." Let's leave it at that, and mention that it was about establishing the Miró-Tàpies-Barceló succession. And as for the anthem, David "complicated his life a bit" (sic) and called for a worldwide competition. Up to 500 proposals, including lyrics in Catalan from Vietnam. The members chose, in another example (according to Carabén) of "sharing the game." And finally, another element that made many of us suffer from the first moment but seems to have been successful: the mascot, the CAT, who comes out to the audience to greet and was created by Barça's Identity department. Carabén emphasizes that many Premier teams have mascots, and that in this case it seems to have worked. Quickly, reference is also made to the film produced, the ascent to Montserrat, the 30th anniversary of the Foundation, and the podcast La llotja.
The following video reviews the sports year, as we are talking about a "multi-sport" club: the triumphs in football, the "no way" of basketball, the impulse of the women's team in recent years, hockey, handball... Which allows the presenters to introduce vice-president Rafael Yuste, who first highlights the unity of the board in front of a president capable of navigating in the midst of a storm. He also mentions Hansi Flick and his mastery of the Masía concept, as well as players who perfectly combine local and distant origins. Here, Andreu Juanola concludes that what the men's football team does, with epic comebacks that end in victory, is beginning to seem profoundly anti-Catalan.
When Elena Fort, institutional vice-president, takes the floor, the memory of the club's closure in 1925 comes to mind, following the celebration of Orfeó Català's success in Rome, but also due to the whistles at the Spanish anthem that proved indigestible for the authorities and ended with the closure of both institutions. We can say that we enter the most patriotic part, with the new video that refers to the new headquarters, the Spotify Camp Nou, and that, through the Timbaler del Bruc, makes us feel the vibrations that tell us how to return home. Homage is paid to Joaquim Gabarró, president of the Casal de l'Avi, who had already seen matches at the old Les Corts field, just as the silver badge is presented to Núria Quintana, a historical member whose counts were interrupted due to sexism. The Palau applauds, standing.
The event heads towards its final stretch with the election of the members' favorite phrase, which ends up being, by vote, Guardiola's: "If we lose, we will still be the best team in the world; if we win, we will be eternal." This phrase gives way to President Laporta's speech, who first responds quite skillfully to the questions of some of the youngest members. Joan Laporta speaks of values, and style, but above all he emphasizes the determination that Barça always remains in the hands of its members: "This is the Barça that Gamper imagined." Laporta knows how to speak in a close, emotional and enthusiastic way —which some provincials confuse with provincialism— and which flows smoothly into the club's anthem and the Cant de la Senyera. There are things that happen naturally when effort and love (yes, with all the cheesiness: love) are put on the right key. The error, the off-key note, comes when Barça (or the country) deviates.