Valencia CF has reopened a door that seemed closed decades ago: the one of its history with Mexico. Not by chance, but by a thread that unites football, memory and exile. The arrival of Javier Aguirre as the new coach of the men’s first team is not just a technical decision, but a gesture that revives a historical bond between the club and the Aztec country, a bond that was forged in the shadow of the dictatorship and that today is reborn with force.
In 1963, Valencia CF traveled to Mexico for the first time, a distant destination that, however, hosted numerous exiled Valencians and Valencianists. There, the team not only played matches, but also found emotional refuge. Three years later, in 1966, it returned to participate in the inauguration of the Azteca Stadium, a milestone that marked the beginning of a symbolic relationship. In 2024, the club returned to Mexico, this time to play a friendly match at the Cuauhtémoc Stadium in Puebla, with the logo of The Fives Hotels & Residences, the hotel division of TM Grupo Inmobiliario, on the jersey.
But beyond football, the bond is maintained in figures such as Max Aub, a Valencian writer, poet and intellectual who, after being exiled in Mexico, never stopped following the club. His story, along with that of Valencia CF in Mexico, was the central axis of the XIII Algirós Forum, organized by the Patrimoni Department of the VCF Foundation under the title ‘Un abraç entre germans’. The event, titled ‘Valencia CF al Mèxic de Max Aub (1963-1966)’, recalled how the club was a beacon of identity for those who fled repression.
Today, more than six decades later, the club is strengthening that bond again with the arrival of Aguirre, a coach who not only represents a sporting bet, but a bridge with a past that was never forgotten. And who better than Max Aub to welcome him, as suggested by the official club statement.
At the same time, in the city of Valencia, the City Council is moving forward with a new Civic Code ordinance that could become one of the most restrictive in Spain. The Councillor for Citizen Security, Jesús Carbonell, highlighted that the draft seeks to curb binge drinking, bachelor parties, hen parties and vandalism, among other behaviors. The legislation proposes sanctions ranging from 750 to 3,000 euros depending on the severity, and focuses on the occupation of public spaces, not just on alcohol consumption. The objective is to ensure the rest of the neighbors and protect the use of public space, with tools that allow the Local Police to act in a preventive and not just punitive manner.
Both facts – the historical return with Mexico and urban reform in Valencia – show two faces of the same city: one that looks back with pride and one that tries to define its present with stricter rules. Football, in this case, is not just a sport, but a mirror of collective identity.