Football Fiesta in Alicante!

Well, I don't think it matters any more how the Spanish team does in the World Cup... at least not for a segment of the Alicante population! Fans of the local football team Hercules are going to be partying all night for a reason completely separate than the Hogueras... they won their final match of the season today which means they get to move up from the 2nd division of Spanish football to the 1st! This means they'll get to play against the likes of the Real Madrid and the Barcelona next year... good luck! They're going to need it! If I'm remembering right the last time they made it to 1st was about 15 years ago and they only lasted a year before getting knocked back down to 2nd... but I do remember all the partying in Alicante, t'was crazy! :p

I was wandering around town this afternoon watching a few of the monuments go up, and heard the cries of "gooooooool" coming out of numerous pubs. While I was taking pictures of the Ninot Indultat these guys were marching up one of the avenues (and cars were honking horns like crazy):

So I went on up the the Plaza de los Luceros where they had giant screens set up for the match, and got there just as a group of fans knocked over some of the barriers and started "swarming" into the Plaza

I stayed and watched the initial celebrations for a little bit before heading home:

This is just the beginning... I'm sure they've got (the team) big things planned for tonight (in fact it's midnight and I'm hearing the echo of big booms coming from somewhere downtown, but it could just be another nocturnal mascleta) as soon as they return from Irun (in the Basque country) where they were playing. These fans were definitely extatic:

and it was fun watching the younger kids who are experiencing an event like this for the first time (which is a very big deal for football fans)

I wasn't the only one watching and recording, the people within the Plaza were all photographing and filming as well (ditto the news reporters)...

and there were people from the surrounding balconies joining in as well...

They're definitely going to get a great view of the celebrations tonight!

So BRAVO to the Hercules! And I hope they last longer than a year in Primera! ;o)

PS: I'm not usually such a big football fan (2 posts in one week, shocking!), but I do kind of catch the bug during the World Cup, and add this in to the mix... And if Spain somehow manages to come through the first round in South Africa and even better WIN... well that's one night I'll be down at Luceros with the rest of the city celebrating like crazy! Two more qualifying matches... and then the rest. Fingers are crossed for "La Roja" this coming Monday and Friday!!! :o)