We study a spatial network model with exponentially distributed link-lengths on an underlying grid of points, undergoing a structural crossover from a random, ErdH{o}s--Renyi graph to a $2D$ lattice at the characteristic interaction range $zeta$. We find that, whilst far from the percolation threshold the random part of the incipient cluster scales linearly with $zeta$, close to criticality it extends in space until the universal length scale $zeta^{3/2}$ before crossing over to the spatial one. We demonstrate this {em critical stretching} phenomenon in percolation and in dynamical processes, and we discuss its implications to real-world phenomena, such as neural activation, traffic flows or epidemic spreading.
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