In a kind of wasteland on the outskirts of Doha, Qatar has built a thousand barracks to accommodate fans attending the World Cup.
The cabins are tiny and the heat inside is suffocating because the air conditioning is a machine with wheels and without much power.
"This has cost us 200 euros a night, without breakfast or anything," explains David Pinillos, 40, born in Logroño.
With the Red Tide rock group, he arrived in Doha on Tuesday night from Dubai.
“There we stay at a friend's house and we fly here the eve of each game in Spain, because it's cheaper that way.
Direct flights to Doha cost 900 euros months ago.
Dubai is much less and there is also more freedom, you can have a beer if you want.
I calculate that the entire trip will be a minimum of 3,000 euros.
In the World Cup in Russia I spent that and we only went to the round of 16”.
This, he acknowledges, is the only situation in life in which he would not mind spending more money: "That would mean that Spain goes far."
More information
Time to graduate for Spain
Qatar monitors reservations, they cannot be made, as in any trip, through an agency.
The group arrived at the clearing around 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, and some of them were not given their barracks until after three in the morning.
"They are building them as they go along," explains Giancarlo Magnieli, 35, of Italian origin and Spanish nationality, wearing his La Roja shirt.
“They wanted to take us to another place that was much worse and we refused.
Some booths were missing the window glass, others were full of sand and very dirty;
there were nails, construction pieces everywhere.
Terrible".
Pinillos, who manages the Pinidar tourist apartments in La Rioja, tried to imagine his clients in a place like this: "With how demanding people are in Spain!"
Spanish fans had to wait up to seven hours for their booth-barracks because "they did them on the go."
Others found theirs like this: dirt, broken glass… pic.twitter.com/aOgEv3pkzU
— Natalia Junquera (@nataliajunquera) November 23, 2022
Paco González, 56, and Juan Canseco, 63, traveled from Oviedo on Tuesday.
“When we arrived at eight in the evening”, explains Paco, “they told us that there was
overbooking
—in the barracks—, but later we discovered that they didn't have enough booths prepared, they were making them.
As they finished, they brought us the keys.
When they gave it to us, they had neither sheets, nor towels, nor toilet paper.
It was already 3:15 in the morning.”
Paco is unemployed.
He worked in banking, but his company recently made an ERE.
"Be careful, I am a banker, not a banker, who have a very bad reputation," he clarifies.
Juan, who already has experience in the World Cups - this is the fourth he has moved to - says that "this is the strangest of all".
He is retired from banking.
Spanish fans pose in the barracks on the outskirts of the Qatari capital.
Jaime Villanueva
David Cebollada, a 48-year-old municipal police officer in Zaragoza, boasts of having attended 83 matches of the Spanish team and in 2012 he created, along with other friends, the Marea Roja supporters club.
"We are a crazy gang that follows Spain wherever it goes: Faroe Islands, Norway, Romania...".
This is his fourth World Cup.
“There has been a lot of talk about human rights in Qatar, but this has been known for 12 years, when it was granted the seat.
We are not to blame for where it is celebrated.
We come to the football party and we can't be thinking about what's going on around us.
I come to enjoy and that is what everyone comes to do.
I think it will be a
World Cup despite the prices in the area, although when I was in Norway watching Spain it was also very expensive: the ticket to the game cost me 150 euros”.
The group is going to leave their savings here and these days in November and December in Qatar are their holidays for the whole year.
Cebollada is moved when talking about her family.
“My son is called Diego Armando after Maradona.
He is 17 years old and since he is studying he has not been able to come ”.
The group also misses Manolo el del Bombo, who couldn't find accommodation.
"I hope I can come.
For us he is a reference.
We bring a new bass drum, but nobody plays it like him”.
Manolo el del bombo still does not think about abdicating
Spain debuts this Wednesday in the World Cup against Costa Rica, but Manolo el del Bombo will have to watch it on television.
The 73-year-old veteran fan told EL PAÍS on Tuesday morning that he was still in Valencia, waiting for help to find accommodation in Doha.
With "about 400 games" and 10 World Cups behind him, Manolo is already an institution and has become a publicity stunt, which is why the flight to Doha would be free, but he has not found a place to sleep.
He has traveled many kilometers to follow Spain in major competitions and assures that this tournament is "especially rare because of the country in which it is held."
This Wednesday, he regretted missing the appointment.
"I'm very sorry that I can't be there cheering on La Roja, but I'll play the bass drum in the living room."
The Spanish soccer federation has told him that it will try to help him with the trip to Qatar if Spain reaches the semifinals.
Despite the disgust, Manolo, for the moment, does not think of abdicating, giving up the hype to some heir: "I still have two World Cups left," he says bluntly on the phone from Valencia.
The
reception
of this peculiar hotel is a stall at the entrance like those of the markets.
The
restaurant
, food and drink stalls located in an artificial grass corridor.
Despite everything, the atmosphere is festive.
Fans from different countries sing the usual songs in the stadiums and chat with mates from the booth, rivals on the field.
"What football does!" sums up Pinillos with a smile from ear to ear and a shirt, cap and socks of the Spanish team.
Interior of one of the barracks.
Jaime Villanueva
Subscribe here
to our special newsletter about the World Cup in Qatar
