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How the 2010 South Africa World Cup victory was celebrated here in Marchena

For the 2026 World Cup final, fences were set up around the Constitution Fountain (known as ‘fountain
of the kid’) to prevent ‘vandalism’. When I saw this, I told myself I would post the photos from when we won the South Africa World Cup in 2010, so everyone could see how it was celebrated back then. Winning our first World Cup was an unprecedented, historic moment, and absolute madness broke out.

The fake trophy you see in the photos was made by my friend Manu and me.

Category: Blog

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22 September, 2022

14:49

Do more of what makes you happy

15 March, 2026

17:40

Paquito is now 15 years old

It’s been a very long time since I last posted anything about Paquito, my hand-raised cockatiel, who recently turned 15. The reason is that for the past few years his feathers have been in very poor condition and he hasn’t been feeling well. Apparently, in the end it turned out to be fatty liver disease (a very common condition in this species) caused by feeding him a diet made up only of seeds. That’s the only kind of food they sell here in Marchena for cockatiels, and I didn’t know it was unhealthy for them. Since I started buying him a pellet food on Amazon (one made for budgerigars, because the one made for cockatiels is too large for him to eat, but he absolutely loves the budgie one—I buy one called Versele‑Laga B14), he has become much more lively. He chatters constantly and has started molting his feathers, so I hope that this time they will grow back beautiful and healthy.

Cockatiels belong to the parrot family. Like parakeets and other psittacine species such as parrots and cockatoos, when humans hand-feed them from a very young age with formula, they become familiar with people, very tame, and can learn words and whistles. In this particular case, I wasn’t the one who hand-fed him. A breeder from Palma del Río (Córdoba) raised him and sold him to me already hand-fed, when he was about 30 days old. I went to pick him up there on December 28, 2010—I still remember the date. His name is Paquito because he started saying it before I had even chosen a name for him. It turns out the breeder kept him in a cage with his father—what he called his “tutor”—so he could learn from him, because his father used to say “Paquito” a lot. An interesting curiosity about cockatiels is that they are the species of bird that sneezes the most. It’s very funny to watch them sneeze. It’s not because they have a cold; it’s just something they commonly do.

I made this video when he turned 10 years old to post on my social media. It’s a compilation of different videos I had of him.

13 February, 2023

23:11

Carnival, carnival

Although in other places in Andalusia there is a strong carnival tradition, standing out the famous carnival in Cádiz, in Marchena nothing has ever been done. In recent years, activities have begun trying to bring about a carnival tradition here in the town.

I was not able to film the carnival parade this past Saturday, February 11, so I leave here the one made by TVMarchena about the parade and subsequent activities in the Auditorium of the Princess.

© 2026 Francisco González SOLEMNITY