Hate crime complaint filed over 'puta Barça y puta Catalunya' chants at the Metropolitano

The association Acció Cassandra has filed a complaint with the Hate Crimes and Discrimination section of the Madrid Provincial Prosecutor's Office over the 'puta Barça y puta Catalunya' chants sung by part of the Atlético Madrid crowd during the match against Villarreal at the Metropolitano on 23 August. The organisation is calling for the incident to be investigated and for the fans who took part in the chants, aimed at FC Barcelona and at Catalonia as a national collective, to be identified.

• Acció Cassandra has reported the chants to the Madrid hate crimes prosecutor's office.
• The 'puta Barça y puta Catalunya' chants were heard when Julián Álvarez came on in the 66th minute.
• The association believes the incident falls under article 510.1 of the Spanish Criminal Code on hate crimes.
• It has asked Atlético Madrid, LaLiga and the RFEF to hand over security and match documentation.
• The organisation links the chants to anti-Catalan sentiment and wants the case referred to the State Commission against Violence in sport.

What happened at the Metropolitano during the Atlético-Villarreal match

The specific moment cited in the complaint came in the 66th minute of the LaLiga match between Atlético Madrid and Villarreal. Julián Álvarez, the Argentine forward who has been linked with FC Barcelona, entered the pitch and part of the home crowd responded with chants of 'puta Barça y puta Catalunya'. Acció Cassandra argues that the chants were explicitly anti-Catalan and came in a context shaped by the Catalan club's interest in the player.

The association maintains that this was not a simple one-off reaction aimed at a footballer, but rather public, collective expressions that demean a group defined by national belonging. It is therefore calling on the prosecutor's office to open an investigation and gather all the material needed to identify those responsible for the chants.

Why the complaint treats the chants as a hate crime

Acció Cassandra points to article 510.1 of the Spanish Criminal Code, which punishes public, degrading expressions directed at a group because of its national belonging. The organisation argues that the chants were not aimed at Julián Álvarez's Argentine nationality, but at Catalonia and the Catalan people, shifting the incident away from sporting rivalry and into discriminatory hostility.

The complaint also invokes article 22.4 of the Criminal Code, which establishes discrimination as an aggravating factor when offences are committed on grounds of national origin or belonging to a nation. For the association, the case is yet another example of a repeated pattern of anti-Catalan sentiment in several Spanish football stadiums.

What evidence Acció Cassandra wants the prosecutor to request

To support the investigation, the complaint asks the prosecutor's office to require Atlético Madrid to provide CCTV footage from the stadium and any internal report related to the incident. It also calls for LaLiga and the Royal Spanish Football Federation to be asked for the referee's report, the match delegate's report and the rest of the security documentation generated during the game.

The association is also requesting the full television broadcast recording in order to assess the scale of the chants and help identify those who took part. With all that material, Acció Cassandra hopes the prosecutor's office will be able to determine whether an offence was committed and, if so, act against those responsible.

A pattern of anti-Catalan sentiment in stadiums, according to the complaint

This is not an isolated incident, but a new expression of a repeated pattern of anti-Catalan sentiment in certain Spanish football stadiums.

Acció Cassandra believes these insults do not form part of normal sporting rivalry, but instead project hostility towards Catalonia and towards Catalan people as a national collective. That is why, in addition to the criminal investigation, it wants the case referred to the State Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Sport, the body responsible for tackling this kind of behaviour in sporting contexts.

The role of Atlético Madrid and LaLiga in the investigation

The complaint focuses on the responsibilities of the organisers and the host club. Atlético Madrid has not made any public statement on the matter, but the association argues that the club must cooperate by providing security images and reports that help identify the fans involved.

LaLiga and the RFEF, as the bodies in charge of the competition, are also named in the request for documentation. Their referee reports, security records and incident logs could prove decisive in helping the prosecutor's office decide whether to open proceedings and who to target.

Previous cases of similar chants in Spanish football

Chants with political or territorial content are not new in Spanish football. In recent years, the State Commission against Violence and the hate crime prosecutor's office have received several complaints over similar expressions in first and second division stadiums. Some cases have ended in financial sanctions for clubs and proposals to identify specific fans.

The Metropolitano case joins a list of incidents that organisations defending linguistic and national rights consider particularly serious because they involve collective expressions in a highly visible media space. The investigation now being requested could set a precedent if the prosecutor's office decides to act firmly.

Frequently asked questions