De la Fuente Tells Tuchel ‘No Racism in Spain’ Before England Game

De la Fuente was asked on Saturday whether those comments showed Spain still had work to do. He first asked who had made them.

'Crystal clear'

His answer was blunt. "What I'd tell you, and you can tell Thomas, is that in Spain, there's no racism," he said.

"Just like that, crystal clear. Just like in England, there's no racism in Spain. We aren't racist, any of us."

The history behind the question

This is England's first visit to the Spanish capital since 2004. That year, some of their black players were targeted with racist chanting during a match at the Santiago Bernabeu.

England have played in Spain three times since without incident: twice in Seville and once in Alicante.

The question also came against a recent disciplinary backdrop. The Spanish Football Federation was fined last month and ordered to partially close a stadium after fans directed Islamophobic and xenophobic chants at Muslims during a match against Egypt in Barcelona.

The Guardian-reported timeline places that Egypt game in March, so the sanction followed several months later.