Homage To Catalonia

Odd stadium backdrops and past glories make Barcelona’s smaller clubs worthy of attention, though life remains insecure in Spain’s lower divisions.

CE europa

Some teams are famous for the trophies they win, the money they spend or the managers they sack. Others acquire their status in a more esoteric way. Club Esportiu Europa, as numerous internet forums attest, are renowned among ground hoppers for what you can see next to their stadium. Looming over the ground is an array of tower blocks large enough to obscure even the Catalan sun. Given the shadows cast over the pitch it’s little surprise that the playing surface is artificial.

There’s much more to this club though than their relationship with local urban planning. Formed in 1907, throughout most of the 1920s the team were second only to Barcelona in Catalonia. CE Europa – the name was chosen to save money, the cost of registering it having already been paid by a different club – won the regional championship once during this period and were runners-up six times. As recognition for reaching the 1923 Copa del Rey final, at the end of the decade they were invited to join the first division of Spain’s new national league.

Europa are based in the district of Gràcia, a bohemian part of the city with an inclusive spirit which was independent of Barcelona until 1897. Although a little detached from the main sightseeing trail, Gràcia’s artisan shops and cafes appeal to tourists as much as the local millennials. Antoni Gaudí was once a resident too, moving into the nearby Park Güell which he designed as a housing development (it’s now a system of public gardens). It’s unclear whether Catalonia’s finest architect made it to a game or not before his death in 1926.