Where and when do dreams begin? This question sometimes has very specific answers. In the case of UD Las Palmas, Gran Canaria football fans began to dream in 1949 when the merger of several clubs led a team that has become one of the hallmarks of the island. Almost seven decades later, La Liga, Spanish football’s stellar competition , returns to unleash passions and offers the chance to watch the biggest sporting fixtures.

Being in Gran Canaria means having access to the largest of the known football galaxies . Let’s take a glance at the calendar of the 2016-2017 season. Real Madrid, the club who made the ‘galácticos’ term fashionable, visit Gran Canaria Stadium on September 25th to face UD Las Palmas. You’ll be able to see the BBC of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo at first. And that other club of extraterrestrial footballers, the FC Barcelona, arrives to Gran Canaria on May 14th. Travelling on board the plane will be stars who seem to come from another planet such as Argentina’s Leo Messi and Brazil’s Neymar.

Gran Canaria forms part of that constellation of stars between August and May. Buy a ticket for one of the home games and going through the gates of the Gran Canaria Stadium will mean much more than attending a football game. The stadium is immersed in a yellow human tide and represents part of the essence of Gran Canaria society. Over the course of 90 minutes, you’ll be able to observe the communion between the public and the UD Las Palmas, whose first team sport distinctive colours of the island in yellow shirts and blue shorts.

UD Las Palmas unite several traits associated with the lifestyle and character of Gran Canaria. Where the talents of the youth academy combine with big-name international signings. Gran Canaria is a multicultural island but one which doesn’t forget its identity and values. The club’s still fondly known as The Little Team.

This philosophy continues to revolve around the pitch every time the referee blows his whistle at kick-off. One of the stars of the team, Jonathan Viera, is a young man born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria who has come through the ranks at the club. Alongside him are other stars who have graduated from the academy and players from the most diverse backgrounds. The recent signing of Ghana’s Kevin-Prince Boateng from AC Milan, Portugal’s Hélder Lopes, and Croatia’s Marko Livaja confirm the global make-up of the yellows.

Once inside the stadium, the show takes place both on the pitch and in the stands. The rallying cry, the 'pío pío tweet' is the soundtrack of the afternoons and evenings of Gran Canaria Stadium. With this background noise, UD Las Palmas play their own brand of refined football, a style forged from generation to generation on the sand of the island’s beaches.

Proudly sporting their yellow scarves and shirts, pensioners sit next to children enjoying the insular miracle born in 1949, still shining all these years later. The ball is back in motion. Just like Gran Canaria itself, the game continues.