The Pride of Vallekas

Not so long ago, Spanish politics was a two-party system. The conservative center-right People's Party (Partido Popular or PP) and the center-left Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español or PSOE). There are regional parties that also play an important role, but let's just focus on the first two. After the 15-M movement (15th May, 2011), which was an anti-austerity movement which shook Spain to its very core, two more parties came to prominence. One was a left-wing, anti-austerity, populist party called Podemos led by Pablo Iglesias, a professor; the other was a centrist party called Citizens (Ciudadanos), a Catalan party that opposes Catalan nationalism and is led by Albert Rivera. The December 2015 national elections ended the two-party system - PP, PSOE, Podemos and C's got 123, 90, 69 and 40 seats respectively, and with 176 seats needed to form a government predictably nothing happened. A June 2016 election did little to resolve the...

Richard Wyatt is a Blackburn Rovers and Rayo Vallecano fan - and a postdoctoral researcher based in Lancashire, UK. You can follow him on Twitter here . How long have you been a fan of Rayo and what made you support them in the first place? About 4 years. It was initially the Laurie Cunningham connection as well as the politics of their fans. which attracted me to the club. How would you describe the fans in the stadium, and how intimidating is the stadium for opposition fans and players? Loud, ultra-led and politically left wing! To an outsider - how would you describe Rayo's playing style? Under Paco Jémez, it was very attacking and buccaneering. Last season the play was quite dull though... How would you describe the last few seasons for Rayo fans? Last season was a low due to the poor football on show. Previously, the club had over achieved by being in the Primera for so long. What is your opinion on the utilization of the youth teams? How would you rate the o...

Given the Roman Zozulya case, here is a list of players who've played in Spain and have political views (I'll keep adding to this list in the future, but here's what I found so far.) Arda Turan Friend of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and a hearty advocate of his economic policy. He said in an interview: “There is a tiny bit of volatility in the exchange rate...I believe that interest rates need to fall. Salva Ballesta  Former striker. Played for seven La Liga clubs (eight is the record). Nationalistic, far-right viewpoints. When sent off for Málaga against CA Osasuna, whose fans include supporters of Basque independence, he shouted to them "¡Que viva España, hijos de puta!" (Long live Spain, sons of bitches!). Fans of Basque team Real Sociedad displayed a banner reading "Salva, muérete" (Salva, die) when he visited their Anoeta Stadium. Had a dislike for Barcelona defender Oleguer Presas, saying that he had more respect for "dog crap...

I've been avoiding this topic, but things are just getting ridiculous now and I wanted to give a very quick take on it. Yesterday was the deadline for Zozulya to "return" to Rayo. Now, there have been a lot of disagreeements. Rayo fans don't want him in the team. Tebas and Presa are willing to charge fans who drove Zozulya out. And the Agrupación de Peñas del Rayo, or la Plataforma ADRV, has called for an assembly in the Rayo locker room to resolve the situation, whether that means Zozulya plays at Rayo or somewhere else. But among all the chaos, what was most striking was Toño's recent interview, where he said something very simple but very important. "We must also consider that if he comes we will have to accept it in the best possible way and if he can contribute by scoring goals we must treat him as part of the team, regardless of ideological thoughts." If the left loves one thing, it is the idea of free speech and safe spaces where anyone can...

Rubén Baraja has been sacked. Surprise. This has insane parallels to the 2003-04 season, where Rayo were relegated from La Liga the season before and ended up being relegated again. Then, and now, Rayo were in 16th place after 26 games, but then it was 31 points compared to 28 now. Then, Julen Lopetegui (sacked 2nd November), Jorge D'Alessandro (sacked 15th February) and Txetxu Rojo were unable to save Rayo from a second successive relegation. Now, José Ramón Sandoval (sacked 6th November), Rubén Baraja (sacked 20th February) and whoever comes in now (rumoured to be Rayo legend Míchel) might be unable to save Rayo from the same fate. All signs point in that direction though... It's funny how history seems to repeat itself. In other news, a bit of politics - Alberto Garzón, the leader of Izquierda Unida (United Left, a coalition of left-wing political parties), came to Vallekas to show support for the 10 fans who are being shoved with criminal com...

This is in light of  Pablo Iglesias winning 89% of the vote to become the secretary-general of the Podemos party.  A quick lesson on Spanish political lesson - there are two major parties. The conservative center-right People's Party (Partido Popular or PP) and the center-left Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español or PSOE). There are regional parties that also play an important role, but let's just focus on the first two. After the 15-M movement (15th May, 2011), which was an anti-austerity movement which shook Spain to its very core, two more parties came to prominence. One was a left-wing, anti-austerity, populist party called Podemos led by Pablo Iglesias, a professor; the other was a centrist party called Citizens (Ciudadanos), a Catalan party that opposes Catalan nationalism and is led by Albert Rivera. The December 2015 national elections ended the two-party system - PP, PSOE, Podemos and C's got 123, 90, 69 and 40 seats res...