Celebrations broke out throughout Spain after the national team beat neighbours Portugal 4-2 on penalties in the first semi-final of Euro 2012.
In Sunday's final, Spain - who are trying to become the first national team ever to win three consecutive major trophies - will face the winner of Thursday's clash between Germany and Italy in the second semi.
More than 20 million Spaniards followed the dramatic penalty shootout in Donetsk, Ukraine, with a television audience share of more than 80 per cent. Many youngsters followed the game at noisy outdoor street parties.
When Cesc Fabregas converted the crucial penalty to give the world champions a 4-2 victory, celebrations broke out across Spain, with red and yellow trumpets blasting away and car horns honking furiously.
Traffic in the centre of Madrid, Barcelona and other Spanish cities quickly came to a halt due to the celebrations on Wednesday.
The heroes for the Spanish fans were Fabregas and goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who saved a penalty from Portugal's Joao Moutinho.
The anti-hero for the Spaniards was Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo, who again flopped on the big occasion and ended up not taking a penalty because his team were eliminated before his turn came.
Radio station Cadena SER said that Ronaldo "turned in a poor performance ... He was let down by his nerves and anxiety."
The Spanish media agreed that their team looked tired and had not played well - but that they deserved to win because of having dominated the game.
Former Spain striker Fernando Morientes, commentating the game on television, confessed that Spain "did not play particularly well."
"It was a very complicated game, tense and closed," he said.
"Portugal made things very difficult for us indeed."