During a football match the other evening Spanish fans shouted racist chants every time a black, English player got the ball. The ensuing media fallout has been interesting because for once I can see both sides of the argument. The following day the English press was full of condemnation of the Spanish fans, and there was talk of wanting an official apology from the Spanish government. The Spanish press was asking what the problem was.

Although I personally don’t think there is ANY place for racism I’ve lived here long enough to see for myself that its part of daily life. You have to remember that democratic Spain is a very young country, and as such is still learning about a lot of things the rest of us take for granted. In the short time I’ve lived here I’ve seen compulsory education up to the age of sixteen made legal, divorce made legal, women allowed to open bank accounts or go to work without the written permission of their husband etc, etc, etc. Political correctness hasn’t even occurred to anybody yet. So, although what happened during the football match in Madrid the other day was shocking, it happened through ignorance. (One Spanish news paper went as far to say, “but how can that make us racists? When the blonde players got the ball the fans shouted “get the queer”, so if anything we were treating everybody equally.”)