- 02/15/2019 -
La Isla de San Miguel de La Palma, or La Palma for short, is the northwesternmost of the Canary Islands. The island's capital, Santa Cruz de La Palma, is manageable in the truest sense of the word with an area of 44 km², its narrow shoreline and a good 16,000 inhabitants. In view of the volcanic origin and the many meters of altitude, a 'sporty' walk up will reward you with a fantastic view of the city centre, the harbour, the promenade and the grey-black sandy beach. Despite the actually pleasant 24 °C, it seems to feel cooler due to the rough Atlantic wind. Along the beach promenade my eyes can't stop being amazed. I only knew such a grey-black beach from the Caribbean, but within Europe, it was new to me. An orange soccer goal frame caught my eye. Seriously, there are two football goals here now?! And yet it was so. A path laid out with wooden slats leads me straight to them. Despite the questioning looks of other passers-by, I took my photos out of complete conviction and absolute fascination. On the search for other spectacular football pitches of a similar kind, I struck gold in the middle of a housing estate. I accidentally found the second soccer field between a residential building and a garage. Empty plastic bottles, worn plaster, potholes in the ground and holes in the chain link fence all point to a soccer field that has probably been forgotten and is in need of renovation, but which is still used by kids and teenagers. It doesn't matter whether there are holes here or there, the main thing is to play football.