MADRID: Spanish police said on Wednesday that they were investigating "Islamophobic and xenophobic" chants heard during the Spain-Egypt international football match in Barcelona, which the government said "embarrass us as a society".
Egypt's national anthem was also jeered ahead of the 0-0 draw in Barcelona on Tuesday in a pre-World Cup friendly, while authorities at the RCDE Stadium appealed to fans more than once over the public announcement system to refrain from making offensive comments.
It was the latest in a string of similar incidents to overshadow Spanish football in recent years, with Real Madrid's Brazilian attacker Vinicius Junior in particular repeatedly racially abused.
"We are investigating yesterday's Islamophobic and xenophobic chants at RCDE Stadium during the Spain-Egypt friendly match," Catalonia's regional police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, wrote on X.
The announcement came shortly after Spain's Justice Minister Felix Bolanos condemned the incident, saying that "racist insults and chants embarrass us as a society".
"The far right will not leave any space free from their hatred, and those who remain silent today will be complicit," he added on X.
"We continue working for a country that is tolerant and respectful of everyone."
'Intolerable'
The game in Barcelona was moved from Qatar due to the war in the Middle East and was played out in a hostile environment from the start.
A message urging fans to stop xenophobic chants and remarks was displayed on the screen at half-time and read aloud by the stadium announcer at the ground which is home to La Liga outfit Espanyol.
The announcement was repeated early in the second half, prompting some sections of the crowd to respond with whistles.
After the match, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente condemned the behaviour of a section of the 35,000 crowd.
"It's intolerable," De la Fuente told reporters as soon as he sat down in the press conference room after the match, calling those who chanted "a disgrace".
"Violent people use football to carve out a space for themselves. They must be removed from society, identified, and kept as far away as possible," the 64-year-old added.
"I don't know exactly what the protocol is, but I think it was the right decision to display the message on the screen and make the announcement."
Rafael Louzan, president of the Spanish Football Federation, called the incidents "specific and isolated situations".
"What we've done is condemn these kinds of attitudes and to say they must not be repeated," he said.
First conviction
One of Spain's starting players during Tuesday's match, forward Lamine Yamal, who plays for Espanyol's city rivals Barcelona, is Muslim.
Like Vinicius, he has frequently been the target of racist insults during matches in Spain.
Vinicius has become a lightning rod for racist abuse since arriving in the Spanish capital in 2018 from Brazilians Flamengo.
The 25-year-old has been targeted in many high-profile incidents, mostly within Spain.
In January 2023, Atletico Madrid fans hung an effigy of Vinicius from a bridge near Real Madrid's training ground.
In 2025, five Real Valladolid fans, who racially abused Vinicius in a 2022 match, were found guilty by a court of committing a hate crime -- the first such ruling in Spain regarding insults at a football stadium.
There have been numerous other incidents, most recently Albacete fans singing a racist chant about the forward outside their stadium before knocking Real Madrid out of the Copa del Rey in January.
Spain's game with Egypt was a warm-up fixture for this summer's World Cup, with both nations qualified for the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
La Roja will face Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay in Group H, while Egypt are scheduled to face Belgium, New Zealand and Iran in Group G.