Attending a Match

We continue our guide to Spanish football with some advice for anyone wishing to attend a football match in Spain. In Spain attending a match is quite different from other countries with differences in kick-off times, fan culture and even food consumed in the stadium.

Kick-off times

The first thing a newcomer to the Spanish game, especially one from the UK, has to get their head around is the later kick-off times. In Spain, everything from eating, to going out at night  to playing football is done later than in most other European countries. There are logical reasons, mainly linked to the weather, for this. When it comes to football, matches are played on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. On Saturday there are usually three matches although it can be more depending on how many Spanish teams are in European action or if the national team is playing midweek. There are three time slots for the Saturday games, 18.00, 20.00 and 22.00. The latter of those, the ten o’clock match, is often the highest profile match of the weekend. Most of the games in Spain usually take place on a Sunday with the majority kicking off at 17.00, however, there are also matches at 19.00 and 21.00 and for the 2011/2012 season there is talk of a 12.00 match.  Noon kick-offs are not common at all in Spain but surveys show the idea is quite popular amongst fans and TV companies keen to sell the games to the Far Eastern market. Finally, the fixture round closes with the Monday night game which usually kicks-off at 21.00.

Buying Tickets

If you’re looking to attend a match in Spain for the first time and you don’t speak Spanish, one of your biggest concerns may be getting hold of tickets. This causes many people to use specialised ticket agencies who sometimes charge double the price of the ticket. So is there another option? Firstly, it should be noted that the vast majority of La Liga matches don’t sell out. Of course a title decider or Barcelona vs Real Madrid are the exceptions to the rule but if you’re planning to see a lower profile match then you really needn’t worry about getting tickets. Even clubs like Barcelona struggle to fill their stadium with an average of 20% unoccupied seats in the Camp Nou during the 2010/2011 season. So how do you get a ticket for a match without paying over the odds? Well the simplest solution is to go along to the stadium and buy one directly from the club. For most clubs this can be done any day during the week running up to the match and even on the day of the game. Ticket offices usually open in the morning, close for lunch and then re-open in the evening. If that isn’t an option, another possibility is to buy them before you go. This can be done online through local retailers (usually banks). For example for Barcelona, Real Madrid, Espanyol, Atlético Madrid and Valencia tickets, the following site is useful. Tickets are reserved online and then picked up from cash machines of the La Caixa bank. For Athletic Bilbao, multi-service cash machines of the local bank BBK can be used to buy tickets. Other clubs such as Sevilla offer their own online service for buying tickets, click here for details. If all of the above fail then you have one final option before going to an agency. At almost every stadium in Spain you will see people in front of the ticket office trying to sell tickets, usually a bit cheaper than the club. Don’t worry, these people aren’t touts flogging fake tickets but socios (see vocabulary section for definition) who can buy tickets at cheaper rates and have decided not to go. Buying tickets from such socios isn’t illegal but really should be used as a last resort.

Fan Culture

In every country the way people show support for their team is different. In Spain, the phenomenon of the ultras has caught on and their presence is felt at every club. So who are ultras? Two common misconceptions about ultras is that they’re politically right-wing in nature and violent. While this may be true for some groups it’s not the rule. The word ultra comes from Latin and the closest translation in English would be beyond. The idea is simple, the ultras go beyond what a normal supporter would do for their team. This involves constant singing and chanting, creating huge banners to encourage the team and setting off flares. Basically, their job is to create an atmosphere that motivates their team and intimidates the opposition. For some of the best examples try to catch Atlético Madrid, Sevilla or Sporting Gijón. Of course some groups take it a step further and engage in violence but this isn’t true for every group. Many of the ultra groups also have a political philosophy, be it right-wing, left-wing, regional or Spanish nationalist. The idea that all ultra groups are right-wing by definition is simply wrong. The ultra culture is not unique to Spain, in fact it started off in Italy and has spread to Eastern Europe and South America. In many of those countries, ultras and violence go hand in hand but in Spain large-scale, organised, football violence is very rare. The worst it usually gets are insulting chants and objects being thrown on the pitch, although even that’s becoming less common. By and large Spanish grounds are family friendly environments with a lot of bark but little bite.

Food and Drink

Finally, we end this section with a look at food and football. Spanish cuisine is excellent, one of the best in the world, but when it comes to half-time footy snacks it’s non-existent. If you’re a pie and bovril person then you’re going to be left disappointed by Spanish football grounds which sell almost nothing to eat except crisps, pop-corn and sunflower seeds. The latter of those is bizarrely popular with some Spanish fans going through two packets per match. Due to the lack of food available and the Spanish obsession with bocadillos (baguette style sandwiches) some grounds have started selling this food, however, most people still bring their own. During the half-time break expect to see many people whip out their homemade bocadillos. Alcohol is forbidden in most Spanish stadiums although in some grounds it is possible to purchase beer.