Politicians – and millions of voters – complain about the increase in immigration and give wings to xenophobic and racist parties. What if foreigners take our jobs, what if they saturate social services, what if they make salaries fall, what if they dilute cultural identity… More than 600,000 arrived in the United Kingdom last year, without which the country would simply stop, because they accept the jobs that the natives do not want, pay taxes and pensions, contribute to Social Security and are decisive for economic growth. In the United States it is the same with Latinos, and everywhere the tango is more or less identical, and not by Carlitos Gardel.
Sometimes, however, they are welcomed and given a special entry permit, when truckers are missing or someone needs to pick the asparagus and strawberries. Or to participate in a domestic football tournament, as was the case with the Scottish Motherwell and the Welsh Swansea in the particular Spain of 1927, during the “dictatorship with a king” of Primo de Rivera and Alfonso XIII, after the coup d’ ‘ State and before the arrival of the Republic.
Many strange things happened in Spain that year, and others more normal, such as the debut of Concha Piquer in Barcelona after five years singing on Broadway in New York. In the category of exotics, it can be mentioned that there were two Copas del Rei: the “normal” one, won by Real Unión d’Irun when they prevailed in the final at Arenas de Getxo (executioner 4- 3 of Barça in the semi-finals), and a special or unofficial one, which was won by Scottish Motherwell after first defeating Swansea (the first time in history that two British teams competed on Spanish soil) and then, in Chamartín, a Real Madrid combination reinforced with players from other teams. Their captain received the trophy from the hands of Alfonso XIII, who celebrated the “scientific football” of the Scots. They had a very decent team and were runners-up in their country (in Spain there would still be no League until two years later).
It wasn’t a summer tour, like the ones now, but a spring one, and Motherwell’s Spanish adventure didn’t end there. A few days later he also won the Barcelona Cup after again overcoming Swansea (twelfth in the English second division) and drawing 2-2 with Barça, after neutralizing the goals of Samitier and Walter. Back in Scotland, the players were received with magnificence as “the kings of Spain”, and in a way they were much more dignified monarchs than the one who had abandoned the constitutional order to embrace the ignominious dictatorship of Primo de Rivera .
Before Motherwell, but without any cup at stake, another Scottish team, Dundee, showed off on tours of Spain. In 1923 – their first trip abroad – with the defeat of Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid and Valencia, but they succumbed 3-1 and 2-0 against Barça at the Camp de les Corts, recently inaugurated by Saint Mirren. The success of the expedition was so great that it was repeated the following year, when the visitors took their revenge with two outstanding triumphs against the Blaugrana.
Several English teams have won Welsh leagues and cups, and vice versa, given the integration of the respective championships, but a Scotsman has never won the FA Cup. The closest they came was Queen’s Park in the 1884 and 1885 seasons, but lost the finals to the mighty Blackburn Rovers. Being a prophet outside your own land is not easy either, and foreigners are not usually welcomed with open arms. But once, when Alfonso XIII was king in name at least, Motherwell had Spain at its feet.
