American in Spain

For all the same reasons I outlined two years ago, I have had a very fun time watching the UEFA Euro Cup 2012 this year. The Spanish are never as patriotic as they are when their national fútbol team, La Roja, are doing battle in a tournament, and since I moved to Spain in 2005, they have been doing very, very well. People have started calling the never-before-accomplished winning of back-to-back Euro Cup, World Cup, and Euro Cup championships the “Triple Crown”.
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If you live in Spain, there is one question upon which you absolutely must have an opinion: Are you a Barcelona or Real Madrid fan? You can be a fan of your local team – Go Racing Santander! – but you still have to pick a side between the two rival fútbol supergiants.

Most Spaniards have some emotional connection to one of the two cities, or sometimes team loyalty is passed down from generation to generation, but for a foreigner like me, I’ve got nothing to go on, so I’ve had to think about which side to choose. By just about every measure, I come firmly down on the side of…
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