Right from their first official match at the old stadium, the row between Rayo Vallecano and its fans continues. The fans had caused Saturday’s match against Bilbao to be abandoned. The reason: they do not want a new stadium in a different location.
Naturally, people are now even making fun of it in Spain. The sports newspaper *Marca* dubbed Saturday’s match abandonment during the game between Rayo Vallecano and Athletic Club of Bilbao the “Pearl Harbour of paper aeroplanes”.
The Rayo fans had thrown hundreds of paper aeroplanes, rubber balls and other items onto the pitch to protest against their club president and majority shareholder, Raúl Martín Presa, who has been unpopular for years and is even hated by quite a few. The club officially refers to it as a “planned attack”.
New stadium rejected by fans
This was not the first escalation at Rayo. The Rayo fans – the majority of whom are known as left-wing and anti-fascist, including the Ultras “Los Bukaneros” – accuse Presa of allowing the old stadium to fall into disrepair so that he can build a new one for the club. However, not in the traditional working-class neighbourhood of Vallecas, where there is no room for large football stadiums, but two or 2.5 kilometres away. There are two possible sites. “Outside the neighbourhood,” the fans fume.
A move is out of the question for them; Rayo is regarded as the “St Pauli of Spain”. The supporters want to preserve their identity; they have little interest in ownership structures. The slogan is: “Not even God can get us out of here.”
Captain Oscar explained, almost in despair: “We finally need a rapprochement between the opposing sides.” Background: Presa, a controversial advertising and printing entrepreneur who, since 2011, has acquired exactly 98.6 per cent of the club’s shares and saved the then heavily indebted club from bankruptcy, regularly ruffles feathers – and not just when it comes to the stadium.
Politically controversial: “Presa, get lost already”
He is also politically controversial. In 2021, he invited representatives of the far-right Vox party to join him in the stands for the first time; outraged fans subsequently disinfected the seats. Just over a week ago, during the friendly against Cagliari – the very first home match of the season – Vox politicians were once again spotted in the stands; the Ultras took to the barricades, leading to vandalism and police intervention, whilst the fans chanted “Presa vete ya” (Get lost already).
There’s no question of it: the local “Campo de Futbol de Vallecas” stadium has been in a state of disrepair for years. It only holds 14,700 fans; on the north side, behind the goal, there is a concrete wall separating the stadium from a road and the adjacent blocks of flats.
Hygiene issues: The stadium had been closed in the summer
Due to structural and hygiene issues, including a risk of Legionella, the ground had been closed by the authorities in July; Rayo had to play its home matches at neighbouring Leganés until now.
The club has now had the stadium given a makeshift clean-up, whilst the local council plans to undertake a comprehensive refurbishment from 2027 onwards. This is not happening fast enough for the Rayo ultras. They used their very first match after the international break to stage a protest.
