What is it and when does the barge on which Athletic Bilbao will celebrate its victory in the Copa del Rey leave?

MADRID, 8 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The barge, the boat in which the Athletic Club de Bilbao players will sail the Nervión estuary to celebrate their victory in the Copa del Rey soccer match, will make its journey this Thursday, April 11.

After 40 years and six consecutive lost finals, Athletic Club de Bilbao won the title last Saturday by beating RCD Mallorca at the La Cartuja stadium in Seville.

To share their victory with the red and white fans, the champion team, which returned to Bilbao on Sunday, will set sail on the barge with the cup on board. A maximum of 60 people will go up to it, including players and managers.

The vessel, which was removed this Monday from the Bilbao Maritime Museum dock by a heavy-duty crane, is already floating in the estuary, and on Wednesday it will be towed to the port.

A day later, the barge will depart from the Real Club Marítimo del Abra in Getxo at 4:30 p.m., accompanied by 160 boats and 32 trawlers, and is expected to arrive at Bilbao City Hall between 6:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

The mayor, Juan Mari Aburto, and the rest of the municipal delegation will receive the champion team on the steps of the Town Hall. After the aurresku of tribute and welcome, the institutional reception will continue in the Arab Hall, where both the mayor and the president, the coach and the captain of Athletic Club will give some brief speeches, and then the footballers will look out on the balcony to greet the the hobby

Between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., the team will go by bus along Paseo del Arenal and Plaza Circular to the Provincial Council of Vizcaya, where they will be received by the general deputy, Elixabete Etxanobe. Also scheduled here are some speeches - from Etxanobe and, again, from the president, the coach and the captain of Athletic Club - and a greeting to the fans from the balcony of the building.

The barge, which weighs about 80 tons and is 18.5 meters long, 8.5 meters wide and has a very shallow draft, has been a vessel used in the estuary since the origins of Bilbao, as explained this Monday by the vice president of Athletic Bilbao Club and director of the Bilbao Maritime Museum, Jon Ruigómez.

The first record of the barge as a symbol of triumph and celebration is, according to Ruigómez, in 1925, when Athletic took the example of the Acero Club of Olabeaga and, later, in the eighties, it witnessed "the great victories in both leagues and the cup".

The vessel remained active in the Port of Bilbao until 2013, at which time it arrived at the Itsasmuseum Bilbao, which, as indicated, "works to ensure that the barge's navigability is effective."

The Central Government Delegation in Euskadi expects that hundreds of thousands of fans will flock to the banks of the Bilbao estuary to witness the lowering of the barge.

To manage an event of this magnitude, the General State Administration will provide 15 boats, 100 Civil Guard troops, a helicopter and an underwater drone to the security device coordinated by the Basque Government's Emergency Coordination Center.