Wifi, Iberian Ham and Seven-Foot Bodyguards: Inside Spain's Stay in Puebla Before Becoming World Champions

Before asking about training schedules or the hotel gym, Spain's advance team asked a question that says a lot about how a concentration camp at this level operates today: "Is there broadband?" Nothing about rockstar excess, just enough connection for the players to kill their free time on a console or a phone. That's how it all began in Puebla, Spain's last Mexican stop before diving headfirst into the 2026 World Cup, the tournament they would go on to win by beating Argentina in the final.

The chosen hotel was the Grand Fiesta Americana, and the initial request there was clear: they wanted the entire building to themselves. "We were told they wanted the whole hotel, all 168 rooms we have, they preferred to have 100 percent of the hotel for themselves, so they wouldn't have to share it," says Francisco Lara, the hotel's director of sales. In the end the number dropped a bit, though not by much: they kept 140 rooms, since alongside the players came federation staff and the entire coaching staff, who were already fine-tuning details ahead of the World Cup. Only 28 rooms in the whole hotel were left unbooked.

Here's the curious part: without realizing it, Spain had been following in the trophy's own footsteps. Weeks before the team set foot in Puebla, the World Cup itself had stayed at that very hotel, ahead of Spain's final tune-up match against Peru.

Iberian Ham, Olive Oil and a Chef Who Took Over the Kitchen

No white roses or red curtains, the kind of requests some touring artists make at hotels like this one. Spain's asks were more down to earth, but just as specific: Spanish olive oil and Iberian ham in industrial quantities. "They send their menus and ask for high-end food. Spanish olive oil, Iberian hams, we had to buy all of it. The Spanish federation paid for everything they requested, expensive items, and they brought their own chef," Lara explains.

What nobody expected was that the Spanish chef wouldn't just supervise, he'd end up working the hotel's own stoves. "We had no idea they were going to come into the kitchen and cook their own food. It was basically, step aside, chef, we'll take it from here. It's not something we normally allow, for hygiene and quality reasons, but we had to make an exception because it was Spain. Our chef was very nervous," recalls the sales director. On the plates served to players like Pedri, Cucurella, Pedro Porro and Ferran Torres, Iberian ham was a constant, morning, noon and night. "They always finished it," Lara says.

The Iberian ham, which is very expensive, they went through an impressive amount of it. At breakfast, lunch and dinner, they finished it off. Something pretty funny happened too, we make paella all the time, our chef made it the usual way, and the national team's chef had him redo it. My chef was like, "come on, my paella," because here it's always a hit. Spanish paella has its own little trick to it, and we had to make it again.Francisco Lara

Maximum Security: "Not Even the President Could Get Through"

If the food was a delicate matter, security was even more so. Spain arrived with its own operation that made it very clear who was in charge of the hotel's access points. "They brought some absolutely massive bodyguards, like six and a half feet tall, and they asked us to let them handle everything themselves. They told me: imagine the millions of euros I'm carrying in that truck, nobody can touch them," says Lara, who recalls the delegation even brought up the value of the squad, comparing it to the cost of building several hotels. The instructions were blunt: not even Mexico's president could get in without authorization. To move around without being spotted by the fans keeping watch outside, the team used the service elevators.

Out front, a Ferris wheel lit up in Spain's colors, along with a welcome message the players could see from their windows. The contrast was striking: they'd come from Chattanooga in the United States, where they passed almost unnoticed, and suddenly found themselves in a country that had been waiting for them since they set foot on Mexican soil. The welcome left such a mark that the Spanish soccer federation later sent the hotel a letter thanking them for the treatment they received in Puebla.

"It was quite something that we had the World Cup trophy stored here, just a few days before Spain arrived. Both of them were here at the hotel. First the World Cup, then Spain, one way or another, they were both here together. Having had the World Cup and then the world champions here, just days apart, that's the memory we're left with," Lara concluded.