Spanish national team enjoying home base in Chattanooga for FIFA World Cup

Written inside the main elevator at the Embassy Suites downtown is a simple yet important message to the Spanish national team.

“Disfruta cada momento de este viaje,” which means enjoy every moment of this trip.

Baylor School and Chattanooga have presented a perfect and peaceful atmosphere to get manager Luis de la Fuente’s team in the right mindset as Spain is ready to prove itself on the field starting at noon Monday with its FIFA World Cup opener against Cape Verde to begin Group H play in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“La Roja,” as the team is known, is one of only four national teams to have chosen a high school campus as a home training ground for the World Cup, with the others being Croatia (Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia), Switzerland (San Diego Jewish Academy in San Diego) and Morocco (The Pingry School in Basking Ridge, New Jersey).

“This city is a great place where I can escape with my family,” said 33-year-old Spanish striker Borja Iglesias. “I can go on walks with my family. I have two or three places I have saved that I found when searching for scenic spots in Chattanooga.”

(READ MORE: Spanish national team comes to Chattanooga)

While players like Iglesias cannot expect a quiet or anonymous trip to the grocery store back home, one of the world’s most famous soccer players found serenity in a recent trip to Walmart in Fort Oglethorpe.

Earlier this week, Spanish 18-year-old global superstar Lamine Yamal enjoyed a laid-back shopping trip to Walmart with his two best friends and his girlfriend. While one person caught a video of Yamal checking out with a full shopping cart, the world’s most valuable football player was left otherwise unbothered. He even posted a photo on his social media of himself, alone and pushing the buggy to his car.

Yamal was not even accompanied by a security guard while shopping at Walmart. That’s usually a must when he travels anywhere in the public eye in any other part of the world. He has nearly 90 million combined followers on Instagram and TikTok and is valued at over $400 million by the CIES Football Observatory.

Fellow Spanish national team members backed up the belief that Chattanooga is the perfect spot for them to have full focus on training and not be distracted off the field.

“Chattanooga is a very, very quiet place,” Spain defender Pedro Porro said. “This type of environment and home base is exactly what we need to stay calm and focused on our goal, which is to be at 100% in everything as we go after our goal of winning the World Cup.”

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About 360 hotel rooms in downtown Chattanooga have been booked for the entire month of June by those in town for the World Cup, which includes the Spanish national team, media members, as well as friends and family members.

Members of La Roja have spent time away from the field enjoying themselves by playing Nintendo Switch, golf and basketball, while also trying to channel past history by playing FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa on PlayStation 3. Spain’s lone World Cup title came in 2010, when Andres Iniesta scored the game-winning goal in the 116th minute to beat the Netherlands in the finals.

Spanish national team enjoying home base in Chattanooga for FIFA World Cup

Members of the Spanish national team even posted themselves walking back to the team hotel after a coffee and pastry run one day downtown.

“This is a perfect place to be for the World Cup,” said Aitor Karanka, the sporting director for the Royal Spanish Football Federation. “We want people to feel that Spain is their team and that Chattanooga is our home.”

The arrival of the European champions set the internet ablaze with Spain’s arrival at the Embassy Suites (drawing over 8.6 million views on a single post on X), but the players have found a relaxed vibe in Chattanooga during their stay so far.

While the Signia by Hilton Atlanta has a larger-than-life Powerade ad of Yamal that spans 25 stories, one of the world’s most iconic sports figures can enjoy the Southern hospitality without being harassed in the Scenic City every time he steps out the door.

“We have all worked extremely hard to produce an environment and home where Spain can train and prepare to go out and compete and win the World Cup,” said Tim Morgan, president of Sports & Events Corp.

Morgan was first contacted about potentially hosting a FIFA World Cup team in late 2023 by former U.S. men’s national team general manager Bill Nuttall.

“We want them to feel like Chattanooga is their home away from home and experience our legitimate Southern hospitality and who we are as a destination,” Morgan said.

Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.