The phrase that gathers the core of Enlightened Despotism is well known, and perhaps, each to his own accord, also serves to summarize the feeling that the famous Final Four of Vitoria left among the citizenry: all for the people, but without the people.

The single-weekend championship is a gigantic spectacle and offers a unique opportunity to see an exceptional level of emotion and quality, at least sporty. In this sense, there is no doubt that the Final Four has always been and will be of interest to basketball fans. But beyond sport, the European basketball championship, the business. As in any such activity, the promoters of the initiative will focus on the economic outcome.

For many years, Vitoria-Gasteiz has been the candidate for the organization of the Final Four by Kerejeta, and in 2019 this dream of some has materialized. Previously, the local public institutions had to make a contribution of EUR 4 million, and to complete the budget of EUR 5 million, Baskonia put the remaining million out of its pocket. To this amount must be added the resources required by the extraordinary security measures, the costs of additional public transport, the cleaning services that go beyond what is customary in the city streets… and although all of them have not been computed, it must be remembered that they have been paid out of public money.

Spending, announcing that the championship was to be held in Vitoria-Gasteiz was a success from the start. There were going to be a lot of followers, the hospitality industry had to have the possibility to make a box like the great celebrations of the city, the hotels had to overflow, the city and the territory had to be known worldwide… and all of this, taking it to figures, left about 50 million incomes in our territory. The eyes of many when they heard the news began to glimpse and, rubbing their hands, the third weekend of May in the calendar had been marked red.

It is early to see what these amounts have remained. And surely in the end we will not know what the data has been. But what is clear is what has been seen on the street, and nobody will be able to say otherwise there. The environment has been as gray as time.

The cause of this situation will not be unique and, unfortunately, more than one will be responsible. For starters, the organization started selling tickets for the Final Four for gold: 300, 400, 500… and also "packages" of more than 2,000 euros. In recent days we have been able to see that some tickets have remained unsold and, finally, it has been enough to approach the box office to see the big end of Sunday and pay "only" EUR 45.

Secondly, the poor environment can be adapted to the hotel offer offered by the capital of Alavesa. The hotel sector wanted to take the opportunity to offer unseen prices: a double room of three nights with 700, 800, 1,000, 2,000 euros… and the result, as has happened with the tickets, has been that during the weekend there have been empty rooms in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

In view of the prices, many fans have naturally chosen to stay in the cities close to Vitoria-Gasteiz. And it is possible that in Bilbao, Donostia-San Sebastian or Logroño, for example, on the weekend I heard more Turkish or Russian than in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Even more if no one has handled charter flights to Foronda airport, which remains open for 24 hours, the airline has reported. Travel agencies, like the others, would act in the face of the situation in which they could benefit, and in which cities such as Bilbao predominated.

Therefore, street enthusiasts, fan-zone fans, bars… and the corners of the city, have stayed away from the city center, far away, and with them, the expected atmosphere. Consequences of abuse or greed. The bag is running out, says the old saying.

On the other hand, the players of the teams, the technical teams, the collaborators, the staff of the organization… and the journalists who come as a result are many, and most of them would stay in the city. But the reduced supply of bedrooms has been eaten a good piece and they have come to work. Therefore, they are not given time to spend time in the street or in the bars. It was also a void to influence the street environment.

If you dig deeper, you can also see variables that aren't in anyone's hands. Anadolu Efes is not a team with many fans to move, the followers of the powerful CSKA are much cheaper but cool in character than the most suitable to create an atmosphere, while in the Fenerbahce and Real Madrid, after losing on Friday, the last-minute amateurs have remained immobile. Zalgiris, Panathinaikos -- if those had been in the end, maybe there would be another atmosphere. It goes without saying that if we had been there Baskonia itself. But that's not the point either.

Do not think that everything has been a bad result. Many familiar faces have come to Vitoria: former players, team representatives, public representatives, important businessmen… but they are not the ones seen on the street either. They could be grouped in expensive restaurants, hotels with many stars or in areas restricted to people with a VIP character.

In short, that the element needed to give rise to a great show is people. A lot of people. And at the Final Four in Vitoria-Gasteiz, we've barely had that.

What had to have been a great celebration, in many ways, was a great sports level, a majo atmosphere on the field, a good organization and a well-deserved champion. From there, the impact on the city… the cold. A spectacle organized for the people, the effect of organizing it without taking into account the people. A few have thought, organized, adapted and enjoyed the show (and, by the way, some have filled their pocket). The citizens, on the other hand, will be with the feeling of the film Mister Marshall from Berlanga.

By the way, if anyone had any interest in it, the CSKA has been the champion this year. But I'm afraid it won't be the main comment we're going to hear this week.

This news was published by Arabako Aleak and we brought it to ARGIA thanks to the CC-By-sa license.