The former president of the Spanish Government between 2011 and 2018 for the PP, Mariano Rajoy, is at the center of the controversy after stating in an article for El Debate that the French soccer team plays “without Frenchmen”, statements that deny the French nationality of the soccer players. A statement that is not supported from a legal point of view, but that reflects a racialized vision of national identity that is increasingly present in a PP aligned with Vox’s discourse on the so-called “national priority.”
Rajoy’s words have provoked reactions in a large part of the Spanish political spectrum, with criticism such as that of the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun. The controversy has also crossed the border and has reached France, where even Marine Le Pen’s party, a common reference for the European extreme right, has described the statements as “racist”, “scandalous” and “shameful”. “Everyone should condemn them,” they said.
The French Embassy in Madrid has responded to the controversy online, denying Rajoy’s words: “All the players on the French team are French. Of the 26 called up, 23 were born in France. The three born abroad also have French nationality.”
Among the most anticipated reactions was that of Lamine Yamal. The FC Barcelona footballer opted for a much more diplomatic tone during a press conference, talking about integration and avoiding entering into a direct clash with Rajoy: «Football, if it is there for something, is to integrate, not to talk about what someone else says. There is no better example than France and Spain.
The rapper El Chojin has been much more forceful during an interview on La Ventana de la Cadena SER. The rapper has assured that Rajoy’s words reflect a way of thinking that is widespread among the most conservative sectors and has criticized that there are those who do not accept as Spaniards those who do not fit into a certain aesthetic image of the country.
For the artist, the entire controversy is “fictional” because nationality does not depend on feelings or cultural issues, but on the law. «You are Spanish because you were born in Spain, or you were not born in Spain but you have a passport that says you are Spanish. Point ball”, the artist has settled.
