Jubilant Spaniards greet Euro 2024 winners, team praised for fostering unity

It was adorned with the message “it’s only the beginning” and the trophy sat at the front of the bus.

“We want a lot,” Sanchez said.

“We want more,” he added.

The likes of Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and Sunday’s match-winner in Berlin, Mikel Oyarzabal, wore white t-shirts with the No 4 on them in reference to the record number of times Spain have won the European Championship.

“For now, we’re not realising yet what we have accomplished,” Williams said.

The attacker, who scored the opening goal of the 2-1 victory, was also eager to thank Spain’s fans “for the love and warmth they brought the team”.

The team bus took them to Plaza Cibeles in central Madrid where thousands more fans waited to celebrate the success, following on from victories in 1964, 2008 and 2012.

Waving flags and dressed in Spain’s red and yellow colours, tens of thousands of people jubilantly greeted the country’s triumphant Euro 2024 men’s football team on Monday during a parade in Madrid.

“Champions, champions!” fans shouted out to the players and coach, who celebrated the win in an open-top double-decker bus, with the trophy placed on the front and the message “It’s only the beginning” emblazoned. Spain beat England 2-1 in Sunday’s final in Berlin.

Spanish authorities praised the players’ victory and style of play, while some fans said they were fostering unity in a country with a history of territorial tensions and political polarisation.

“We are a great country. In days like today it’s important to remember that this flag represents all of us,” a young fan named Borja told national broadcaster TVE.

He praised Spain’s 17-year-old rising star Lamine Yamal, who is Black, with his father hailing from Morocco while his mother was born in Equatorial Guinea.

“We are seeing the (ongoing) problems with racism. Lamine Yamal will define an era because people in Spain are of all colours,” Borja added.

Standing on balconies and crowded sidewalks, excited fans, many of them kids and some who had travelled from distant parts of Spain, waved at the players who were wearing white t-shirts reading “Kings of Europe” accompanied by a big No 4 to mark Spain’s fourth continental title.