Spain ex-PM draws criticism with 'xenophobic' remark on French team • FRANCE 24 English

Now, racist comments by former Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy about the French men's football team have sparked a backlash from France and Spain's left-wing parties. In an op-ed article, Rajoy described the French team as a high-level squad without Frenchmen, alluding to the African origins of some of the players. It comes just one week after Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amaria made headlines with her racist comments about French footballer Kylian Mbappé.

Well, Sarah Morris, our correspondent, is in Madrid for us. We can cross to speak to her now. Sarah, hello to you.

So we've had some reaction from a number of French politicians calling Rajoy's comments a grave insult against the French team and the country. What's the response been like from the Spanish political spectrum? Well, we've just heard from Spain's Prime Minister, the socialist Pedro Sánchez.

He's just put out a comment on X, and he says there are those who still measure belonging by surname, place of birth or skin colour. Others measure it by our roots in a country and our will to contribute to it. And he says that Spain belongs to those who love it and work for it, not to those who shame it with xenophobic statements.

France, we'll see you in the semifinals. May the best one win and may racism lose. And people are pretty aghast, really, about Rajoy's opinion piece that he wrote in El Debati, which is a website.

He basically said that France would make a great rival to the Spanish team on Tuesday when they meet in that semifinal. And he'd said it's a high-level squad, of course, without Frenchmen. And really, the newspapers are all carrying those comments and the reaction to them from France.

El País, which is a left-wing newspaper, says that the former president is adopting the thesis of the far right in France in his article. And El Diario, which is also on the left-wing, says that Rajoy has been driven by the radicalisation of the political landscape on the right. This time, Rajoy has gone too far and allowed himself to be swept along by the wave of racism and xenophobia sweeping across Europe.

Probably the centre-right newspapers focus more on the diplomatic reaction from French ministers than the actual comments themselves. And probably the strongest comment we see is the transport minister, Oscar Puente, who basically calls Rajoy, the former prime minister, he calls him a post-Franco dimwit. And he says, did any gullible idiot ever believe he was a moderate sort?

Quite a surprise for a man who we know is a football fan. He is a Real Madrid fan, and he should have been aware of the racism that Mbappé has already received in this World Cup. All right.

Sarah, thank you very much for bringing those updates for us. That's Sarah Morris, our correspondent in Madrid. Thank you.

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