When international football stars lift the FIFA World Cup trophy, the celebrations that follow come in all shapes and sizes. But few honors are as unique as the welcome two Spanish champions received when they returned to their small Andalusian hometown this week.
Midfielders Fabian Ruiz of Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona’s Gavi, both key members of Spain’s 2026 World Cup-winning squad that defeated Argentina in an extra-time final in North America, arrived back in Los Palacios y Villafranca on Wednesday to a hero’s welcome. The town, located just south of Seville, counts fewer than 40,000 residents, but thousands turned out to line the streets and greet the pair at an official civic reception held at the local town hall.
Draped in Spanish flags and wearing their shiny gold World Cup winners’ medals, Ruiz and Gavi were met by local government officials, cheering fans, and a very special surprise tribute that is one of the town’s longest-standing athletic traditions. As part of the celebration, both players stepped onto public weighing scales to measure their body weight — a calculation that would determine exactly how many tomatoes they would take home as a reward for their historic victory.
In the end, Ruiz, who started the World Cup final against Argentina, will receive 85 kilograms of locally grown tomatoes, while 20-year-old Gavi will take home 68.5 kilograms. Local council leaders note that this unusual tomato presentation has become a signature tradition of the municipality, reserved exclusively for honoring the town’s most exceptional sporting talents.
The celebration also included a reunion with Los Palacios y Villafranca’s first World Cup champion, former Spanish winger Jesus Navas, who claimed the sport’s biggest prize as part of Spain’s 2010 World Cup-winning squad. Navas, who previously played for Manchester City, already received a similar tomato honor alongside Ruiz when Spain won the UEFA Euro 2024 title, and the town’s existing sports pavilion already bears his name.
In recognition of Gavi and Ruiz’s new world championship titles, local officials announced that two public football fields in the town will be renamed to honor each player permanently. Going a step further, the town council confirmed plans to fund and construct a new shared monument dedicated to all three World Cup-winning athletes from the small Andalusian town.
A formal statement from the town council explained the motivation behind the permanent tributes, saying: “In this way, the city council wants to pay permanent tribute to three athletes who represent the pride of an entire town and who, with their sporting and human trajectory, have become role models for several generations of children and young people.”
The historic victory for Spain, which claimed its third World Cup title after a dominant extra-time win over Argentina, capped a standout tournament for both Gavi and Ruiz, who cemented their status as two of the best young midfielders in global football. For their hometown, the win is a source of communal pride that will be commemorated for decades to come.