Home / España Libre Cup / Where is it? / L’Etno
From December 23, 2022 to September 3, 2023, the Free Spain Cup could be seen in the Valencian Museum of Ethnology which is located at Corona Street number 36. It’s one of the main objects of the exhibition that bears the title; ‘De granotes, gats i palmeres, els orígens de la història del Levante UD’.
The exhibition is informative and publicizes the milestones that have marked the history of the club.
The exhibition shows the founders of the teams, the fields, the old shirts, titles, the consequences of the Civil War, the merger, the relations between the players and the club…, until the first promotion to the First Division in the 1962-63 season.
The exhibition is a production of L’ETNO, Museu Valencià d’Etnologia with the collaboration of Levante U.D. It is curated by José Vicente Aguilar and Asunción García, and by Emilio Nadal and Borja Arce. The exhibition is designed by Suso Pérez (Estudio Gimeno Gràfic).
The exhibition is organized chronologically in different sections: Introduction, origins of the Levant U.D., war and cup, fusion in 1939, creation of Levante U.D. In 1941 and the rise to the elite.
The Cup stood out as the centerpiece of the area dedicated to War and Cup.
At the beginning of the Civil War the competitions did not stop and the clubs of the city proclaimed themselves faithful to the Republic. The division of the country into two zones prevented the dispute of the state championships and the regionals, the Mediterranean League and the Free Spain Cup were played.
The Free Spain Cup was won by Levante in July 1937. Levante beat Valencia (1-0), with Nieto’s goal in the final that was played in Barcelona.
During the Franco dictatorship this tournament was not recognized. Levante UD, with the support of a large part of the fans and Valencian society, and political bodies, have fought for this trophy to be recognized.
While the Cup was exposed, on March 25, 2023, the R.F.E.F. recognizes the officiality of the Free Spain Cup conquered in 1937.
86 years after winning in Barcelona, On Saturday, March 25, 2023, Levante was officially crowned champion of the Free Spain Cup
The Royal Spanish Football Federation, at the meeting of its board of directors held in Malaga, decided to approve the recognition of the Free Spain Cup
“The Levante Unión Deportiva and the Federation of the Valencian Community informed the RFEF, in 2019, a series of sporting events to request recognition of the title, always recognizing the RFEF the exceptionality of the moment and the context of civil war in which the tournament took place”, explained the RFEF, which indicated that “the FIFA agreements of November 6 and 7” were taken into consideration. held in Paris, as well as “the agreements adopted by the highest body of world football in Kolkata in October 2017”.
A historic debt was settled. The club has fought boldly in recent years for its legality. The recognition of the Free Spain Cup has extended in time since it began to recover its effervescence at the beginning of the third millennium. The process has been fraught with difficulties and setbacks.
With this fact it was curious that in the exhibition ‘De Granotes, Gats i Palmeres’ a Cup entered and an official title came out.