Green, I love you green!!

 It is Christmas Day.  We are not at home. Neither is Father Christmas.  As alluded to before, Santa Plc is in a fight with the Three Kings for the right to deliver presents.  The Kings may be supported by El Apalpador.  This chap hangs around parts of Galicia, dressed as a ragged charcoal burner who visits children on New Year’s Eve.  He checks to see if they have full bellies and if they have not, he leaves a handful of chestnuts.  



At the other end of the north is Olentzero.  He comes to town to give presents on the 24th - although in Ochagavia its the 27th and Ermua the 31st.  A child with a well planned diary and a scattering of relatives they could stay with could do well out of this.  Olentero is first mentioned in writing in the 17th century. In one version he is one of the Jentillak, a race of Basque giants living in the Pyrenees.  In another version he was an abandoned child, found by the fairies, given strength and kindness and given to a childless couple.  He became a charcoal burner and made toys for children.  There is a lot of variants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olentzero 




 We are crossing the El-20 and having a quick run round the Elche Football Stadium.  Unlike England, which played football on Christmas Day till the late 1950s, Spain doesn’t.  Currently there is a midwinter break. Elche played Rayo Vallecano on 21st and will next play Villarreal on 4th January.  




Elche Club de Futbol was founded in 1923 when various town teams merged. They reached the Segunda in 1934 and La Liga in 1959.  Their best season was 1963-4, when they came 5th and 1969,when they were runners up in the Copa del Rey.  The financial crisis saw the club sink into the Segunda B between 1991 and 1997 - and again in 2017-18.  This season they have returned to La Liga and - in late October - 7th.  If I remember I will update this. [Insert, they are ninth, recent form 2 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats.]



The Estadio Martinez Valero gets 6478 reviews. Androi was not happy yesterday.  ‘I imagine the home fans won't have any problems getting into their stadium. The visiting fans are in a different situation, with an endless queue of over half an hour to access two turnstiles, with a crowd of around a thousand, and the sun shining brightly. In short, the treatment and conditions of access to the ground for visiting fans were very poor. I will seriously consider returning to the Martínez Valero stadium. I'm sure that when they visit San Mamés, they won't receive the same treatment.’  Let's see if they learn from it. And what you don't want for yourself, don't give to others.’   Given yesterday Elche were playing in Madrid this is a grumble that was thought on.  I am assuming that Aloni is an Athletic Bilbao fan. Elche drew 0-0 with Athletic on 19th October.



I liked Zsolt’s snack bar comment.  ‘Nice stadium. I was there for an Elche-A. Bilbao match. My ticket was for a corner, the pitch is clearly visible. There are few toilets, and that one orphaned snack bar is a bit sweet. So of course they lose revenue, because I think I'm not the only one who didn't want to stand in line for 20-25 minutes.’  It was written in Hungarian.




Morrocoyita is enraptured.  ‘Green, I love you green!! A magnificent stadium with great fans, clean and well-maintained inside. It's a shame about the exterior, which doesn't have enough trash cans and looks like a dumpster. I think this should be addressed, as you have to stumble off the field to avoid stepping on the large number of cups people throw on the ground. The best thing is the large amount of parking just a few meters from the stadium.’



A coffee shop exists on the site.  La Fabrica de Hielo is usually open 7 till 8.30 during the week; 8 to 2 Saturdays and 7 to 2 on Sundays.  Henrietta felt ‘Great little cafeteria with a terrace right within the Elche stadium. It is very well priced and not hugely busy, good service, clean.’


We will push on through the quiet streets and come to an end.


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