On the border between Moldova and Transnistria, the surreal line that Madrid must cross: "'Border' will be for them"

• Report The unknown Transnistria and the origins of Sheriff Tiraspol, Real Madrid's rival: "It's like a communist movie"

• The whispers of sport The Sheriff's Transnistria or football between nostalgic Stalin and criminals who protect the disabled

- "Is

pretty?"

- I do not know

- (...)

- I've been to

... But never there

At the

, the capital of

, traveling to the southeast sounds 'ugly' to many.

"The situation is ... Well ...".

And the clerk of one of the stores, who had done some tourism in Europe but not for his theoretical country, thus closes the conversation.

The ambiguity of his answer gives way to the

of reality.

Once landed on Moldovan soil, in a country governed by a

(yes, there are Moldovans who want to be part of a '

' and join their brother from the west), one has two options, take the R2 road towards the north or south.

Towards the capital or the unknown.

When choosing the latter,

of endless straights

appear

, dark from four in the afternoon, with potholes that would make any suspension shake, with section radars, gas stations,

stations,

stations, and field, a lot of field, a lot countryside. Have we already talked about gas stations and the countryside? In the mountains, the Moldovan population is lost, of which only

, one of the lowest proportions in Europe. Perhaps in a past trend or a futuristic vision of what awaits the rest of us. Anyway, about the gas stations and the fields:

Just buildings

, just people, just nothing.

After an hour of travel in which it is advisable not to leave the supposed main road and after some timid notices not too big - "

" ("border, 10 km") -, you arrive at the self-proclaimed

.

Prorussia, with the communist hammer and sickle on its flag, with the son of a Soviet soldier as president, with a currency that can only be obtained in its territory (the

) and that has no validity or exchange in any other part of the world and with a 'visa' in the form of a purchase receipt.

"

", defended some Moldovans at the airport, closed to engaging in any conversation that involves giving more than one piece of information about his life. Well yes, border for them. Along the way down the R2,

after hitting the ground in Chisinau this noon,

'. Only from

, Moldovan cities, for all intents and purposes, on the north side of the line. Because for Moldova its country does not stop at the two booths that the Transnistrian government has set up on the asphalt of the R2, but there begins a kind of 'Autonomous Community' within its territory, but for Transnistria it does, here the yours. "And period", they will think.

"Real Madrid" and "Champions League"

are the magic words when arriving at the border point. And "passport", especially "passport". Giant Transnistrian flag, giant "

"

signs

in English and

(no longer in Moldovan). Car registration, passport control in an attached sentry box, '

' to pass (paid in euros, and the police are delighted), a ticket with the date of entry and the date on which you must leave the territory (in five days) and a "

!" finally, the universal language. Because this week football has fixed the geopolitics of the area and

, who plays the Champions League from Transnistria but thanks to the ticket that the

has given him

, receives, also after

(although with less complications, one might suppose) the most successful club in football. A matter of state. Or states. After the border, there is life, even at night.

(yes, like that, in Spanish) and the first of many buildings with a giant '

' at the entrance. On the left, the river

.

Rather than looking for problems to let in journalists or foreigners, Moldovans and Transnistria, policemen and citizens, they ask the same thing, half jokingly half seriously:

.

The

will be few for the more than 130,000 inhabitants of Tiraspol, the second largest city in the area behind Chisinau.

"Madrid!", Jellies the receptionist of a hotel in Bender as he opens the Google translator because he is unable to speak a word in English.

'Madrid' as a solution to everything.

At least this week.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• Real Madrid

• Champions League

• sports

• HBPR

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