The farewell of the myth has arrived, the legend of Manolo Santana, whose journey through life leaves an eternal legacy. The body of the tennis player was transferred from Marbella last Sunday so that between 12 and 20 hours this Monday they would render him tribute family, friends, admirers and citizens of Madrid, his countrymen.
The burning chapel took place in the emblematic central court of the Caja Mágica to which the honorary president of the Mutua Madrid Open gave name when this tournament took its first steps in these facilities. There, sports and tennis personalities, such as Feliciano López, Alex Corretja, Emilio Butragueño and Florentino Pérez; of politics, like José Luis Martínez-Almeida and Begoña Villacís; or journalism, like Jose Maria Garcia, Among many others, they gave their last displays of affection towards the great Santana.
“We come to say goodbye to a great man from Madrid, a better person and a legend of Spanish sports. Manolo Santana represents, of course, the best of sport, but everyone also agrees that he was an extraordinary person. In Madrid we are proud that he is from Madrid. A universal Madrilenian. We wanted to participate by making this heartfelt tribute from the Caja Mágica, where he was so many times, to have the opportunity to say goodbye to him. It’s a sad day, not just because a great athlete leaves us, but because he leaves us a great person who worked for Madrid, for Spain and who passed our name around the world “, Martínez-Almeida said next to the mortal remains of the tennis player, in whose coffin rested the flags of Spain and his soccer team, Real Madrid.
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Florentino Pérez, with the wife of Manolo Santana, in the burning chapel located in the Caja Mágica.
PEPE ANDRES (Diario AS)
In addition, the mayor of Madrid emphasized the influential sports figure of Santana, whom he placed at the same level as other great pioneers of our sport: “You have to know how to fire legends but take care of them in life. Manolo is easy to remember for his sporting triumphs , but fHe was a pioneer of Spanish sport. If the national sport has this health it is thanks to Santana, Seve Ballesteros or Ángel Nieto. We are lucky that in addition to being a great athlete, he was a great person. “
Minutes before, Villacís, deputy mayor of Madrid, had highlighted to the attending media that human quality of the tennis player: “He was an extraordinarily kind, loving, caring person and of those people who have clean eyes. Always with a nice and comforting word. I saw him nothing ago and he is one of those people you always like to meet. He was so kind and humble to be the reference that he has been for everyone … I am very sorry “.
Santana’s last wish will be fulfilled in the next few hours when his ashes be scattered in your beloved Marbella, city where he lived for more than three decades and where he died at the age of 83. Goodbye, Manolo.