BARCELONA left-back Jordi Alba has freed himself of an embarrassing secret: Despite motor manufacturers offering him and his team-mates the use of top-of-the-range cars as an advertising stunt, few PR bosses in the industry realised he could not use them.
He has long been ribbed in the locker rooms by his fellow Barça players for the fact that they have to give him lifts to and from training every day.
And if they were unable to do so, he had to go to work by taxi.
Now, though, at the tender age of 31, Jordi Alba has successfully cracked that de rigueur rite of passage to fully-fledged adulthood: He has passed his driving test.
In his triumphant Instagram post, posing next to his driving school car and instructor, Alba wrote: “It was about time, wasn't it?”
All Barça players were given free use of a brand-new top-notch Audi when the make was club sponsor, and now, they are all driving around in Cupras, for the same reason.
And for Alba, it was a bit awkward being lent a flash new car to promote off-pitch when he had to leave it in the garage gathering dust.
Yet, despite all the apparent perks of the job, footballers at premier league level have a tough schedule with practically no time off out of season – they may earn big money, but have little opportunity to spend it, or indeed, do anything that does not involve matches and training.
Alba, though, made a conscious decision to find the time to take lessons.
An estimated 73% of driving school pupils in Spain fail their first test, although no data have been made public as yet about how many fail subsequent ones, so it would not be surprising to hear this was not Jordi Alba's first attempt.
However, he has not revealed whether or not he is in the 27% who get through their first test.
Reporter David Ibáñez tweeted a video of Alba's first 'legal' drive as he left the exam centre, congratulating him and drawing attention to his slow, cautious progress, habitual in a brand-new driver.
Learning to drive in Spain: How it differs
In Spain, the minimum age for starting learning to drive is 18, and an official driving academy – normally with a fixed high-street premises – is the only legal way to do so.
Until you have passed your test, you cannot take to the wheel, even under supervision of a parent or other experienced adult driver, except in a driving school car with a qualified instructor.
Even if you have a family member or friend who is an instructor, it is illegal for them to take you out in their own car with an L-plate, since they will not be covered by insurance.
Parents who take their kids for a practice on an empty industrial estate or car park face hefty fines, as does the as-yet unqualified driver, who can end up with a criminal conviction for driving without a valid licence.
A theory test must also be passed, and is fairly challenging, requiring classes and revision.
Due to the cost of lessons and tests, unlike in other countries such as the USA and the UK where young adults rush out to take their first class practically the very day of their 16th and 17th birthdays respectively, most Spanish teens are not in so much of a hurry – many opt to leave it until after university, or during their summer breaks, so can be in their early 20s before they sit their first test.
Also, as it is easier and cheaper to get through a moped test and this can be taken earlier than one for driving a car, two-wheeled transport is far more popular among very young adults – and more comfortable than moped-riding in northern Europe, due to the better weather.
SPAIN'S last-minute win against England in the 2024 UEFA Euros comes on the 60th anniversary of the country's first-ever title in the much-followed competition – and has broken numerous records, too.
A HOLLYWOOD legend joining folk-dancers from Asturias and showing off her fancy footwork in the street is not a scene your average Oviedo resident witnesses during his or her weekly shop. Even though their northern...
