BadalonaLázaro is a homeless musician at risk of social exclusion who in 2019 took center stage during a Youth match at the Olympic Palace. His trumpet cheered the green-and-black fans during an eliminatory of play-off against Barça. “He looked like the Pied Piper of Hamelin”, says one of the witnesses, who remembers how people started singing and dancing to his rhythm. The ticket to witness the match was given away, surprisingly, by a player from the La Penya squad.
The pandemic erased Lázaro from the map, but taking advantage of the momentum of the Copa del Rey contested in Badalona, the supporters of La Penya organized to try to locate him. Sergio Pareja, a member of the Bíblia Verdinegra, a very active fan community, used social networks to look for any clues about the musician, but it took some time to get an answer. The first reliable information came from a witness who claimed to have seen him in Barcelona’s Old Port. The follower scoured the area for days until, when he had practically given up hope, he located him.
Lázaro, whose name I didn’t even know until that meeting, turned out to be a homeless Cuban who had emigrated to Spain already twenty years ago. Wrestling is his favorite sport. When he lived in his country he managed to win some tournaments and when he came to Barcelona he practiced in a gym in the Mina district. Four or five years ago he also lived in Badalona, in the Gorg district, but his location, next to the train tracks, was not safe. Basketball is another of his passions, so it was easy to convince him to return to the Olympic Palace. The first match he attended was against UCAM Murcia, but then he returned on the day of the European duel against Cluj-Napoca. When his trumpet sounds, the mood of the pavilion changes.
Lázaro, who lives in a tent, watches La Penya matches with the people of the Green-and-Black Demons, who made a request to the Badalón club so that the musician could enter his trumpet into the Olympic Palace. The supporters take turns to pick him up, take him to the pavilion, return him and cover his basic needs.
The players of La Penya are delighted with Lázaro and, among other things, they have already given him a signed sweatshirt and leg warmers. “Adrià Delgado, the delegate, told me that Lázaro needed some thighs. We players are lucky enough to be given vamps by contract, so I thought it was a nice touch to give some away. I am lucky and, to be fair, this is not a problem for us”, explains Joel Parra, player of the green-and-black team.
The story of solidarity that has been generated is beautiful because everyone who is part of the green-and-black family tries to help. Each in their own way. Ferran, a boy who lives in Newcastle, got more than 400 euros by auctioning a historic sweatshirt. The magazine over the hornon the other hand, sends him a part of the income from its sales.
Surprised by the impact his story has had, Lázaro now prefers to stay away from the media noise. “When they found me they told me they were looking for me because the people were very happy with me, so I decided to go to Badalona. I like to play the trumpet and, if I can help the team to win, better than better”, he said a few days ago in statements to Ràdio Ciutat de Badalona.