usatoday24
The football party that is lived these days in Bilbao, where Tottenham and Manchester United will play this afternoon The Europa League UEFA Finalhas come accompanied by something more than sport, emotion and healthy rivalry. Although It is not the dominant tonic Among the thousands of fans who have arrived from the United Kingdom to enjoy the game, some Hooligans have left vandalism scenes, fights and chaos, which has forced Ertzaintza to mobilize. It has happened In Bilbaobut also in other more or less close locations, such as San Sebastián or even Santander.
It is face B (much less friendly) of the grand final.
Bilbao, capital of British football. Between Bilbao and London there are approximately one thousand kilometers in a straight line and yet the Basque city is today the great capital of British (but European). The San Mamés state will host this afternoon, from nine, The Europa League UEFA Final that will play Tottenham and Manchester United.
It is an planned appointment (the protagonists were missing, of course) from July 2021when UEFA announced that it would compensate Bilbao for the withdrawal of rights of The Eurocup 2020 (marked by the pandemic) with the final of the European competition of 2025. Four years later the date has arrived. And with her, as expected, a massive landing of fans of the two teams that will be measured on the grass to lift the cup: Manchester and Tottenham.
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Soccer and something else. It has rarely been so easy to hear conversations in English through the streets of Bilbao. Only in San Mamés it is calculated that there will be 49,600 spectators (At least 15,000 followers of each team, another 11,000 neutral and 8,600 distributed by UEFA), although some estimates point out that the landing of British fans who have arrived in the Basque Country these days is much higher. How much? There is who speaks of 50,000 people, who raises that figure above 55,000 and who even slides that the number of mobilized followers could around 80,000.
Most of them have been dedicated in recent hours to enjoy quietly from Bilbao or even cities like San Sebastián and Vitoria-Gasteizwhere they stay to avoid the very high prices that hotels have reached in the Biscayan capital. Among British fans there is also another less peaceful profile: hooligans who have dedicated themselves to Slop urban furniture and terraces, Built neighbors either be punching and kickingwhich has even forced to mobilize Ertzaintza.
What exactly has happened? Arrives with a look at Instagram, Facebook either X To check it. For hours on the networks you can see videos and images of English Hooligans leaving chaos and vandalism scenes. In Bilbao a group of fans concentrated in the area of Mr. Poza on Tuesday to destroy two traffic lights between songs. And it was not the only controversial scene. The fans also climbed a scaffold to approach the balcony of a house in the historic center. To scare the Hooligans, the owner, visibly altered, had to go out with a cane.
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Incidents in San Sebastián and Santander. In the old part of Donostia they also lived Moments of tension Yesterday night, when different groups of fans began to rebuild each other. The result was a massive fight with punches, people on the floor and garbage cubes overturned during which glasses and tables flew. The Basque newspaper Precise that the situation calmed down after Ertzaintza appeared in the area. The regional press even Informs fights Among British fans in Santander bars.
A final with hangover. It is not the first time that incidents occur like this during a great soccer final, both in Spain and abroad. Just a month ago there was clashes Between Ultras of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid before the final of the Copa del Rey held in Seville and just a year ago, on the eve of the Europa League final 2023/2024 played in Dublin between the Atalanta of Italy and the Bayer Leverkusen, the Irish authorities deployed an important Security device.
Another scene that has occurred in recent days in Bilbao (and other parts of the Basque Country) and is not new is the prices of accommodation fired by an international sports event. Last week the Eitb.eus chain I pointed That flights from London had doubled their prices, reaching stratospheric levels, while hotels, hostels and apartments offered fifteen or twenty times above normal rates for these dates.
“I’ll sleep on the street”. Although in part those prices of up to four figures are explained by the operation of the hotels and The operation Of the reserve websites, its impact among fans who have come to the Basque Country is clear. An amateur Chipriot He explained yesterday to The mail His experience: “I arrived last night and slept in a hotel. I paid 180 euros for the room, but today they asked a thousand. So today I sleep at another hotel: 315 euros the room. For tomorrow they asked for 700, so tomorrow … tomorrow I will sleep on the street.”
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