Three days before the highly anticipated clash between France and Spain in the semi-final of the World Cup, Mariano Rajoy’s words did not go unnoticed. In an article published in the media El Debate, the former head of the Spanish government (Popular Party, conservative), in power from 2013 to 2018, estimated that France “has a very high level workforce” but “without French”.
The socialist Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez reacted very quickly by castigating on Sunday on X the “xenophobic statements” of his right-wing predecessor. “There are some who still measure belonging by last name, place of birth or skin color. Others measure it by attachment to a country and the desire to contribute to it,” says Pedro Sanchez. “Spain belongs to those who love it and make it come alive. Not to those who dishonor her with xenophobic statements. » And to conclude: “France, we find ourselves in the semi-final (of the 2026 World Cup, Editor’s note). May the best win and racism lose.”
“The French team only includes French people”
In France, Mariano Rajoy’s exit sparked a storm of outraged reactions. Questioned on BFMTV, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez estimated that if this statement “is accurate”, it “is absolutely unacceptable”. “The French team only includes French people. France is not an ethnic nation, it has no skin color or religion. It is a political nation united around the republican motto. No offense to the racist right,” sharply replied the boss of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure (on X).
“Yesterday a senator from Paraguay, now the former prime minister of Spain: they cannot help but express filthy racism in an attempt to annoy our great French team,” said his counterpart from the French Communist Party, Fabien Roussel. The French embassy in Madrid also reacted on social networks: “All the players on the France team are French. Of the 26 players, 23 were born in France. The three who were born abroad are also French. »
