At Partizan basketball club's fan shop in Belgrade, they sell a shirt and scarf with the Spanish flag and the name of a small town near Madrid — Fuenlabrada. They don't really fit the club's style at all, and you'd think, what does Spain have to do with anything?

Let's rewind to the early 1990s. The team was at its peak: in 1988 they almost made it to the Euroleague final, and in 1989 three Yugoslav basketball players (two of them from Partizan) moved to the NBA for the first time. But it was at this exact moment that the country started falling apart.

Playing matches in Belgrade in the 91/92 season was already dangerous: fighting was raging across Croatian territory, and the front lines were less than 150 kilometers away. I told the story of how a tank drove straight from the battlefield to Belgrade. So all home games were moved to that same little town near Madrid.

Despite the situation, the black-and-whites delivered their best season: they won the Euroleague and the national cup. They haven't managed to repeat that success since. The Spanish fans embraced the basketball players like their own, cheering for them even when they played against Spanish teams. At one of the games, a teacher and his students from a local school came with a homemade banner (it's in the first photo). Later, the club, grateful for such warmth, started releasing merch with that very banner. And they still do it today!

Fuenlabrada also has its own basketball team. Although they play in a lower league, Partizan sometimes plays friendly matches with them as a sign of memory and respect. The last one was in fall 2023 in Belgrade. And the Spanish themselves often remember that year fondly and retell the story in the media (elpais, elespanol, marca).

Two other Yugoslav teams also moved their home matches in 91/92 to Spain: Split to La Coruña, and Zagreb's Cibona to Puerto Real. However, they didn't experience the same kind of magic with local fans.