workingclasshistory:

On this day, 9 February 2007, Alejandro Finisterre, the anarchist poet and inventor of the Spanish version of table football (foosball) died in Zamora, Spain. He invented the game following injury during the Spanish civil war and revolution so injured children could still play football.
Fleeing following the fascist victory, he ended up in Guatemala, where he played table football with Che Guevara. After the US-backed military coup in the country, he was kidnapped by Franco’s agents and put on a plane to Madrid.
However, on board he went to the toilet, wrapped a bar of soap in newspaper and emerged shouting “I am a Spanish refugee” and threatening to blow up the plane. Supported by the crew and passengers, the plane landed and let him off in Panama.
We tell the story of the Spanish civil war in this podcast episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/07/29/spanish-civil-war-podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1345657052286108/?type=3