The national football coach, Luis de la Fuente, visited the reception centre in Las Rozas this Sunday to spend the morning with nearly 300 people displaced by the fires affecting the west of the Community of Madrid and Castilla y León.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation has set up the Ciudad del Fútbol residence in Las Rozas to accommodate families affected by the fires that have been ravaging the west of the Community of Madrid and the province of Ávila since last Thursday. The initiative, coordinated with the Las Rozas City Council and Civil Protection, allows the displaced to occupy the rooms usually used by the Spanish national team players.
National coach Luis de la Fuente visited the reception centre this Sunday to spend the morning with the nearly 300 evacuees and emergency personnel. De la Fuente, who was crowned world champion with the Spanish national team just a week ago, wanted to show his support to the families during this difficult time. According to federation sources, the coach toured the facilities and spoke with those affected, especially the children, who were excited to see him.
Nacho Solana, director of Brand and Social Action at the RFEF, explained that as soon as they became aware of the magnitude of the fire, they contacted the Las Rozas City Council to coordinate the reception. “We have made all the rooms we had available. They are the same ones where Lamine or Ferran have stayed; the kids were amazed, their eyes wide with excitement to be there,” Solana stated in comments to Cadena SER.
The federation has prioritised family units in situations of special vulnerability or social emergency. The Ciudad del Fútbol residence, a usual concentration site for national teams, has the capacity to accommodate dozens of people and offers basic services such as a dining room, showers, and rest areas.
The Las Rozas City Council centralises part of the reception for displaced citizens. The council has also made other municipal spaces available to shelter those who have had to leave their homes. Collaboration with the RFEF has been key to expanding the reception capacity at a time when the fires remain active in several areas.
Luis de la Fuente was not the only prominent federation member to show solidarity. Antón Meana, a journalist from Cadena SER, praised the initiative: “It’s nice that the federation has this charitable touch. It’s the federation’s hallmark. In the past, they also provided planes for Spaniards in conflict zones to return to Spain. Just as it happened then, they are now helping with the fires. Setting up a place like the Ciudad del Fútbol de Las Rozas is very important, and the final touch was when the coach, just a week after being crowned world champion, was with the displaced families.”
The fires, which began on Thursday, July 23, have affected thousands of hectares in the Community of Madrid and Castilla y León. The central government declared the damaged areas as severely affected by a civil protection emergency on Tuesday, allowing for the activation of financial aid and exceptional measures. In the Community of Madrid, the most affected municipalities are those in the metropolitan west, such as Las Rozas, Majadahonda, Pozuelo de Alarcón, and Villanueva de la Cañada, where preventive evacuations have taken place.
The Ciudad del Fútbol residence will continue to host families until the situation normalises. The RFEF has assured that it will maintain collaboration with local authorities as long as necessary. For the residents of Las Rozas and nearby municipalities, this initiative provides relief amid the emergency, offering a safe and dignified place to take refuge.
The coach, for his part, wanted to send a message of encouragement to those affected. “Luis is all heart. In this new federation, whenever there is a tragedy, the first thing that comes to us is to return the passion that the people show us and to lend a hand to help society,” Solana explained. De la Fuente’s visit has been met with gratitude by the evacuees, who have seen in the coach a gesture of closeness and support during a time of uncertainty.
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