A group of boys is playing happily on a soccer field in the La Verneda district. Their shouts and goals are accompanied by the noise of the surrounding bars that cross the sports complex of Club Esportiu Júpiter. It could also be another neighborhood club, with a grassroots school and then the first team playing in one of the amateur football sections. On their shirts, these children wear a round shield with the colors of the Catalan flag and at the top a blue star very similar to the Independence flag. It could also be a simple shield with the initials of Jupiter. However, this emblem, this name and this club was one of the nerve centers of Catalan anarchism when it was based in the Poblenou neighborhood. The company survived the turbulent 1920s, enjoyed the freedom of the Second Republic, fought in the Civil War and suffered the repression of the Franco dictatorship. Almost 100 years have passed, but the ideals have never disappeared.
“We are the only company in Catalonia whose name, colours, coat of arms and location have changed,” laments Joan Rion, President of Jupiter, in one of the club’s rooms, now located in Barcelona’s Sant Martí district. Banned from Poblenou since 1948, when the Franco authorities wanted to eliminate any trace of anarchism in the new regime: “Poblenou was then a central and neuralgic place for social gatherings and that’s why we were transferred to the La Verneda field,” explains the President.
Pictured is the CE Jupiter soccer field near La VernedaAlbert Garcia
It was not only about the transfer of headquarters, but also the change of name from Jupiter to Hercules, the change of the gray and scarlet jersey (colors related to anarchism) to the color Verdiblanco or the change of its revolutionary and Catalan coat of arms. He even suffered the failed attempt to become the Espanyol affiliate team.
All of these reprisals during the dictatorship were marked by the association’s strong political and militant involvement since its inception. Founded in 1909 by the Mauchand brothers, workers from the Poblenou neighborhood, they chose the name of the planet Jupiter after the winner of a hot air balloon competition on Mar Bella beach. Since then, political actions have become part of the club’s history. For example, it was Barça’s rivals in that game in Les Corts in 1925 where the Culé fans officiated the Spanish Royal March and had their stadium closed. During the Second Republic, Francesc Macià visited him in 1931 and the football final of the Popular Olympics was played at his stadium in Poblenou, which was closed due to the start of the civil war.
It was in the war that Jupiter showed its great anarchist and anti-fascist influence. On that July 18, 1936, two trucks set out from Jupiter Field to combat the uprising on the national side. And throughout the war, the stadium’s stands are said to have served as a clandestine arsenal of weapons, although this fact has never been confirmed.
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At that time the association had 3,000 members, today there are 750. Times have changed, it has regained its original name, coat of arms and clothing, but its commitment is the same. “We stay true to our DNA. We were involved in all initiatives. For example, in Procés we changed the colors of our shirt to play with Senyera’s and they thanked us from many quarters. We are within Òmnium Cultural and only a few sports companies are also represented. We are part of a historical and biographical tour of the region. It’s very difficult to stay true to certain ideals these days, but I think we made it,” Joan Rion adds proudly.
Although they have not lost their essence, other humble clubs in Catalonia have carried out a series of political and social initiatives that have given them a place that historically has always belonged to Jupiter. But Joan isn’t worried, she’s excited about these developments: “The profile that the teams are taking on is what it needs to be and it’s the reality of today.” The entities have to set an ideal, and each one can do this in different aspects and in different ways. And the fact that there are clubs that have the same opinion as we do is very positive for everyone.”
While the Jupiter continues to be a benchmark institutionally, sportingly it has always suffered from living up to its history and values. But something changed with the arrival of Juanjo García as coach in 2009: “When I arrived I found a team that was economically and institutionally sound but was competing in a lower league and hadn’t made it into the Regional Preferential to rise.” . That’s why I completely restructured grassroots football, because it was a high-budget team with higher-level players but had little ability to adapt to the lower tiers. And in my freshman year we became champions and moved up the division.”
In the picture Juanjo García, coach of CE Júpiter.Albert Garcia
The coach does not hesitate to point out what was the key to his success, which led to the team achieving several promotions in a row: “The most professional way of working made us climb the category and it went continuously until we reached it.” into the third division,” confirms Juanjo, who is also aware that the weight of the Jupiter story is another incentive to play for the club: “The young players that we signed had no doubts that to come, and that’s a good thing. We had to convince some veterans even more, but it’s true that the name makes them come.”
The club has just been promoted to First Catalan. Both the manager and the president have the goal of getting back on the rise while fans continue to come to La Verneda to see their team. Many continue to come from Poblenou: “It is a very important area for us. There is still a part of the adults coming to us whose parents have been members since we played in Poblenou. And the vast majority of the fans who belong to the animation group “Reducte GrisGrana” belong to the house in the Poblenou district,” admits the President.
A detail of the waving CE Jupiter flag can be seen in the image. Albert Garcia
Neither Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship nor Franco’s could bring an end to a club that is sustained by values that have remained intact in its DNA. A unit where, despite its sporting situation, prevail its history and its ideals as one of the first teams where politics and football have always been the main reason for being.
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