On Sunday, after a feat that no one believed in before Eibar-Girona, the second leg of the promotion, I had a fraternal thought for RCD Espanyol. From Diagonal resident to Diagonal resident (in my mind there is still the Sarrià field... and the Delicias cinema, the Up
In seasons like last, we have little news of RCD Espanyol, beyond keeping the category without trouble. In that sports neither fu nor fa, which claimed two relevant heads (the sports director, Rufete, and the coach, Vicente Moreno), only the goals of Raúl de Tomás and his possible internationality – reflected beneath the shine he spends in the Espanyol– remembered the existence of this club that many tolerate and few appreciate in Catalonia, even though its origins and colors are the most Catalan. Spain, Catalonia and I, we are like that, madam...
On the other hand, Girona falls well among the very Blaugrana social majority of the country. It has business with the Guardiola family, its president Delfí Geli looks good everywhere and it is Carles Puigdemont's team, so in times of downturn you can always think of Girona – the least classic of the four teams from the provincial capitals Catalans–, a team that some consider the fourth immortality of the city.
If we take this photograph for granted, are RCD Espanyol and Girona called to fraternize or are they condemned to a rivalry for that –spurred on by the Barcelona fans– of deciding which is the second team in Catalonia? Naturally, the Spaniards attack the doubt, in view of their respective histories, incomparable. But it would be enough for the people of Girona to win again in Cornellà to feed –with bad grapes– the doubt...
Madrid also has three teams in the First Division but the anti-merengue clamp of colchoneros and vallecanos works there, so the picture is simple: all against Real Madrid. In Catalonia, the matter is more complex, like everything here, and one would say that Barça and Girona profess affection for each other and tend to make RCD Espanyol invisible, which, on the other hand, suits them well because it reinforces the irreducible parakeet spirit, “wonderful minority”.
I say that the parakeets will be pissed off by the media and institutional incense dispensed to Girona. It is understood. On the other hand, Catalan football has three teams in the First Division and we all agree there: the more we are, the more we will laugh.
