Real Madrid Responded: 'No One Will Compare Us to a Terror Organization'

The confrontation between Real Madrid and Spanish journalist Juanma Castanyo escalated after he compared the club's official television channel to the Basque newspaper Gara in an opinion piece in ABC, and despite apologizing for the comparison itself, he stood by the criticism he leveled at the channel.

The confrontation between Real Madrid and Spanish journalist Juanma Castanyo continues and is escalating. The incident began following an opinion piece Castanyo published in ABC after the Madrid derby against Atletico Madrid, in which Real Madrid claimed the referees wronged them during the loss. In his criticism of the club's conduct and its official channel, Castanyo wrote that Real Madrid TV is the 'Gara of ultra-Florentinism,' comparing it to the Basque newspaper Gara, which has a left-wing nationalist and separatist stance associated with radical Basque leftism and linked to a Basque terror organization.

Real Madrid was angered by the comparison, and in an official response defined it as 'regrettable and unacceptable,' noting that the newspaper's history is tied to a murderous underground organization, and the club announced it reserves the right to take action. Subsequently Castanyo backed away from the comparison and apologized for it on Cadena COPE's 'El Partidazo,' saying: 'The comparison is unnecessary and I apologize for it. I should not have made it,' but added that in his view 'Real Madrid TV lies, manipulates, targets people and harasses them,' and that his opinion had not changed.

The apology did not satisfy the channel's staff. On the program 'Real Madrid Conecta,' host Alvaro de la Lama said it seemed Castanyo 'wanted to continue and escalate matters,' and added that Castanyo 'calls us liars and manipulators,' while the channel analyzes what happens each week through images. De la Lama said 'No one will compare me to a terror organization,' and at RMTV they reiterated the claim that the channel does nothing more than defend Real Madrid's interests and present through images its claims regarding refereeing and conduct around the club.