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Madrid turns Colón into a meeting point for following Spain
Madrid residents now have a meeting point to experience the World Cup in the street. Plaza de Colón is being transformed these days into a large fan zone to follow the Spanish national team’s matches, with a giant screen, free access and activities designed to extend the experience before and after each match.
The space will open from 12:00 to 22:30 on match days, with free admission until capacity is reached. The idea is for fans to be able to come from midday, watch the build-up, enjoy the atmosphere and stay on after the match without having to look for another plan.
The fan zone will not be just a screen for watching football. It will also feature music, food and drink areas, shops, activities for the public and spaces linked to the history of the Spanish national team, such as trophy exhibitions. Colón will thus once again serve as one of the city's major sporting venues.
Spain's opening match against Cabo Verde will be one of the most eagerly anticipated moments. The excitement will also grow with the visit of Tom Holland, who will stop by the fan zone before the match and add an extra attraction to a day already marked on many fans' calendars.
The second fixture, against Saudi Arabia, will repeat the same format, opening from midday and with a giant screen to follow the match live. The location makes it easy to arrive by public transport and turns the area around Colón into a convenient option for those who want to experience the match as a group.
The third group-stage match, against Uruguay, is left out of the giant-screen programme because it will be played in the early hours of the morning. The fan zone will nevertheless open on the preceding Friday with reduced hours, from 12:00 to 18:30, to keep the World Cup atmosphere going before the close of the initial phase.
If Spain advances as far as the semi-finals, Madrid will expand the set-up with a second screen at Puente del Rey, in Madrid Río. The City Council would thus repeat a formula already used in recent major tournaments, distributing fans between two large open-air spaces.
Colón is once again more than a central square. During the World Cup it becomes a place where football is experienced as a collective plan, among shirts, screens, families, friends and that background noise that appears when Madrid decides to watch an important match away from home.