Politics

‘Intolerable whiff of racism’: Spanish soccer’s never-ending problem

Published

1 hour ago

July 14, 2026

MADRID — A soccer-racism row involving a former prime minister has triggered renewed scrutiny of a perennial Spanish problem.

Mariano Rajoy, who governed Spain between 2011 and 2018 as leader of the conservative People’s Party, described the French team in a column he wrote for El Debate news site as a “very high-level squad. Of course, without Frenchmen,” in reference to the African heritage of some of the players.

The remarks sparked a fierce backlash from across the border ahead of tonight’s World Cup semifinal between Spain and France in Dallas.

On Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said, “France has no skin color. Any contrary claim stems from stupidity, racism or a combination of the two.”

Several other French politicians also criticized Rajoy, while the French soccer federation president, Philippe Diallo, wrote on social media that the remarks “carry an intolerable whiff of racism.”

Even the spokesperson for the far-right National Rally party, Julien Odoul, said: “Mr. Rajoy is a racist. Simply, his statements are scandalous, shameful, and regrettable. Everyone should condemn them.”

Spain’s socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also took France’s side against his predecessor.

“There are those who still measure belonging by surname, place of birth, or skin color,” he wrote on social media. “Spain belongs to those who love it and work for it. Not to those who shame it with xenophobic comments. France, we will see you in the semi-final. May the best team win and may racism lose.”

Rajoy’s comments have reignited a debate that has dogged Spanish soccer for decades, even as it has morphed into a World Cup superpower. While high-profile cases involving stars like Samuel Eto’o and Vinícius Júnior have prompted tougher punishments and greater public condemnation, racist abuse from the stands — and broader questions about race, identity and belonging in Spain — have proved harder to eradicate. The latest controversy underscores how soccer reflects Spanish tensions that extend beyond the pitch.

In 2004, Spain fans made monkey noises at Black English players during a game in Real Madrid’s Bernabéu Stadium. Weeks earlier, Spain’s then-coach Luis Aragonés had been caught on microphone calling French star Thierry Henry a “black shit.”

In 2006, Barcelona’s Cameroonian forward Samuel Eto’o refused to continue playing a league game in Real Zaragoza’s La Romareda Stadium after home fans repeatedly directed monkey chants at him. Eto’o’s stand was seen as a reckoning for racism in Spanish soccer, although many believed the €9,000 fine handed to Real Zaragoza was laughable.

In the years since, there have been a number of similar incidents. Most notoriously, in 2023, Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinícius Júnior stopped playing and confronted Valencia fans who had been shouting racist abuse at him in their Mestalla Stadium. The controversy drew a show of outrage and solidarity for the player from the Brazilian government.

Racist abuse by fans had become increasingly common in the 1990s as Spanish soccer drew more players from abroad, including Africa and South America. At approximately the same time, Spain was also starting to see a large influx of immigrants, many of them from those same continents.

In a 2024 research paper on racism in Spanish soccer, the Funcas think tank, an independent institution focused on economic and social analysis, found that many radical fans were unhappy about the arrival of nonwhite players in La Liga.

“What is happening in football reflects what is happening, sooner or later, in broader society,” one fan was quoted as saying in the document.

“If there isn’t a solution, we’ll be invaded by a legion of foreigners and Spain will lose its identity,” the fan added.

Although Spanish authorities have clamped down on radical fan groups since the turn of the century, many of those sentiments have not gone away.

However, the Júnior episode shows that Spain’s soccer institutions take racist abuse more seriously than they did 20 years ago. Three Valencia fans were given eight-month jail sentences for their role in the Mestalla incident. Four fans of Real Madrid’s cross-town rival Atlético de Madrid were also given jail terms for hanging an effigy of Júnior from a bridge before a game.

The Rajoy racism case has surprised many because he is viewed as a moderate and yet his comments chime with the sentiments of the far right.

Political commentator Marc Bassets from the left-leaning El País warned in an op-ed that the kind of opinions voiced by Rajoy are too often tolerated or trivialized. He said the broader political context is significant, including the far-right Vox party’s introduction of a Spaniards-first “national priority” policy in regions where it governs alongside Rajoy’s PP.

“In times of ‘national priority’, the white noise of casual racism that can be seen in society risks becoming even more casual,” Bassets said.

At a press conference Monday, Spanish football star Lamine Yamal hit back at Rajoy.

“If football has a purpose, it is to unite society, and there is no better example [of that] than us and France,” Yamal said, describing both national teams as models of integration.

Politics

Where France and Spain have never stopped playing on the same team

Published

12 minutes ago

July 14, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

There may be no more durable experiment in Spanish-French teamwork than the existence of Andorra. Since the Middle Ages, the landlocked principality has two heads of state, one from each side of its border.

But even though both of the larger countries that engulf it are founding members of the European Union — and the ski-tourism-heavy economy runs on euros — Andorra is now struggling for acceptance into the European Union.

For a country with a population of less than 100,000 people, Andorra has a complicated political setup. It is ruled by the sitting President of France, and the Bishop of the Catalan city of La Seu d’Urgell, who hold responsibility for the territory as “co-princes.” (The state also has a Prime Minister, Xavier Espot Zamora, and a 28-member parliament.) It’s in the United Nations and the Council of Europe, but integration with Brussels remains a divisive issue.

The territory struck an “association agreement” with the European Commission in 2024. Once ratified, the deal would allow Andorra a similar level of participation in the EU’s single market to Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, and to benefit from free movement of people, goods, services and capital if they follow many of the bloc’s regulations. (In a snub for the country, Andorra won’t gain full access to the EU’s financial services market immediately, due to fears that it is too lax on policing its own powerful finance industry.)

The domestic politics mirror that in other European nations: with those in favor of closer links looking forward to the economic benefits of EU single market access, while those against are downbeat about immigration from the EU to the tiny principality. Polling late last year showed that 35 percent of Andorra residents polled see the deal positively, while 34 percent see it negatively.

But Andorra can not clear its own path to Brussels. Its association agreement was negotiated together with San Marino, and now Bulgaria’s objection to the San Marino deal, and both deals are part of the same microstate treaty. (The two countries are intertwined in sport, as well: Andorra’s best-ever performance in a World Cup qualifying match came over San Marino, a 3-0 victory in 2021. It was one of only 14 international victories for Andorra since being recognized by FIFA in 1996.)

Participation in international events has been lukewarm in Andorra, the only country to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest without reaching a final. It competed for five years starting in 2004, with its best result a 12th-place finish in a 2007 semi-final. The country’s national broadcaster cites financial difficulties as the reason for not taking part since 2009.