The Penya Solera Barcelonista de Castellar del Vallès was officially founded in 1952, which makes it the oldest active FC Barcelona supporters’ club in existence today, and one of the few that was present at both the old Les Corts ground and the inauguration of Camp Nou in 1957. The penya was born in the heyday of the Barça de les Cinc Copes, which saw a veritable explosion of new penyes during the 1950s, thus evidencing the rebirth of the Penyes Movement that had almost completely disappeared during the Spanish Civil War.
Explanation by the secretary of the penya, Salvador JuanPere
“If we go into the history of the penya, its statutes were adopted by Pepitu Carnero from those given to us by the Penya Solera Barcelonista, then located in Carrer Pelai in Barcelona and presided over by Nicolau Casals de la Fuente y Gené. This is where our name comes from”.
In 1951, at the height of the Barça de les Cinc Copes, a group of Barça supporters from Castellar del Vallès decided to start the adventure of living the blaugrana colours in a joint and active way. The first president was Ramon Piñot Girbau; the second, Josep Rovira Cercó; the third, Joan Comellas Datsira; the fourth, Francesc Cornet Calveras; and currently Antoni Falcó Borell is the fifth president. In one way or another, all of them have brought the penya to where it is today.
Currently, the Penya Solera Barcelona site is located at 1, Molí.It is open from Monday to Saturday from 4:30 pm to 9 pm, and on Sundays when Barça plays, it can be watched on TV. The current events of the penya, apart from acting as a community centre and watching the matches, include the annual Members’ Party, the season’s dinner, conferences, an occasional film session on a member’s travels and the traditional Quinto sessions at Christmas. In addition, the penya collaborates with the Castellar Domino Club (playing on Fridays or Saturdays, the Barcelona Cup or the Vila de Castellar Domino Tournament in pairs) and organises trips to watch Barça (League, Copa del Rey or Champions League)”.
Nearing 75 years, or more
The PB Solera de Castellar del Vallès will soon celebrate its 75th anniversary, and it does so with the iron health that comes from overcoming obstacles without losing even a hint of blaugrana passion in successive generations, to become one of the most active social supporters’ clubs in existence today, regardless of the team’s situation at any given time. In the conference and the soon-to-be-released book ‘Ambaixades; la historia de les Penyes del FC Barcelona’, mention is made of its creation, along with other penyes born in the difficult 50s and 60s.
Finally, a thought: can the date of the official foundation be considered as the real foundation of the penya? Or is this the time of the first meeting with the intention of creating the penya? There are opinions to suit all tastes, but if we compare it with the foundation of FC Barcelona, it would be completely unfair (as some historians claim) to place it in 1902, which is when the first statutes were created and presented to the Registry, when it turns out that the real foundation was on 29 November 1899, as documented in various publications. Seen from today’s perspective, it would be clear, but you cannot apply today’s regulations to the situation 125 or 75 years ago, when the scenario of associations was very different from today. So, when was the Penya Solera Barcelonista de Castellar del Vallès really founded? This is one more unknown that we will have to find out. .
