Fake football jerseys and pope-mania

World Cup fever is in the air in Spain and with it a love of La Selección’s second kit, an elegant white jersey with burgundy touches that’s an instant classic.

Everyone, from kids to adults, seems to be wearing it in the leadup to Spain’s first match against Cape Verde on Monday June 15th. 

One would think that Adidas must be raking it in given the jersey’s popularity, much more so than the first kit that Spain’s national side gets its nickname from – La Roja (the Red One).

But word on the street is that the vast majority of these white Spain jerseys are fake replicas sold usually by African street hawkers – what’s known in Spain as top manta. 

And is it any surprise given that the authentic ones are selling for €150 or higher, and the knock-offs go for as little as €25?

Interestingly, it’s been proven that just like with other high-end brands which have also been dealing with rip-offs of their products for years – Gucci or Yves Saint Laurent, for example – Adidas still stands to benefit from Spain’s underground and illegal top manta industry. 

That’s because of the exclusivity and aspirational essence that owning an original of a very popular and recognisable product has.

Nowadays, the higher quality of the phoney ones makes it hard to tell the difference, so judge for yourself what you want to pay, and to whom.

It’s not that we support counterfeit products, but for a country where the most common monthly wage is slightly above the minimum wage, paying €150 for your country’s team jersey is extortionate at best.

In other matters, Spain’s news cycle this week has been dominated by Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Madrid, Barcelona and the Canaries. 

The pontiff has drawn huge crowds wherever he’s gone (1.2 million people for an open-air mass in the capital last weekend), and his presence has had an apparently unifying effect at a time of heightened polarisation in the country. 

He’s spoken about immigration in detail and addressed sexual abuse in the Catholic Church to some extent, meeting with some victim groups privately. 

There was a sense that leaders from across the political sphere wanted to be seen with or close to the pope. 

The ruling Socialists felt vindicated by many of el papa’s words on matters of social justice and welfare that they’ve come under pressure for from the right. 

In the Canaries, the regional government declared a day off from school for kids in Gran Canaria and Tenerife, but rather than go to the beach or stay at home, many of them have chosen to see the pope as if they had tickets to a major open-air concert. 

‘Six-sevening’ crowds and joking about Bad Bunny, AI and football rivalries – the 70-year-old head of the Catholic Church has certainly seemed like one of his goals has been to appeal to a younger crowd during his visit.

Could it lead to an increase in religiosity among young Spaniards? 

On the plane here, Leo told journalists that he was “very pleased by reports” that young people were increasingly interested in the Catholic Church. 

“They realise there’s an emptiness, and a lack of a sense of meaning, and perhaps my visiting is helping to awaken even further something,” he said.

Between 52 and 56 percent of Spaniards identify as Catholic, although the rate of churchgoers is around a third of that and more Spanish people are openly defining themselves as atheist or agnostic. 

READ ALSO: How devoutly Catholic are Spaniards nowadays?

However, some studies point to a shift among young Spaniards. The percentage of young people who consider religion very or quite important has increased by 16 points in five years, reaching 38 percent of this group, according to the Barometer on Religion and Beliefs prepared by Spain’s Pluralism and Coexistence Foundation.

Furthermore, 45 percent of young people identify as Catholic, whether practicing or not. That’s almost 14 points higher than in 2020.

It could be easy to shrug off the current wave in pope-mania as just a passing fad that will be forgotten next week, but perhaps it won’t be.