Around the corner from the Plaza Mayor, where Liverpool fans sat at cafes soaking up the sunshine, a queue of several hundred people stretched down the Calle De Atocha towards the striking neo-Gothic Church of Holy Cross on Wednesday afternoon. They had come to see the statue of San Judas Tadeo, which resides there, and to lay their hands upon it for good luck.
The church was packed with worshippers. Outside, street-sellers were hawking images of the saint. ‘Patron of impossible, lost and desperate causes,’ a sign next to some jewellery said. ‘Put the bracelet on your right hand, thinking of your request fervently.