This comment, published in the opinion section of the Spanish online news site “El Debate,” appeared as Spaniards prepared for the highly anticipated World Cup semifinal match against France on Tuesday.
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Current Spanish Prime Minister P. Sanchez condemned this comment as xenophobic.
“There are those who still measure belonging by surname, place of birth, or skin color. Others measure it by our roots in the country and the desire to contribute to it,” P. Sanchez wrote on the social network “X.”
“Spain belongs to those who love it and work for it. Not to those who shame it with xenophobic statements,” he added.
French politicians also strongly condemned M. Rajoy’s comment.
France “has no skin color or religion,” wrote Olivier Faure, leader of the French Socialist Party, on “X.”
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told French TV channel BFMTV that M. Rajoy’s comment is completely unacceptable.
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Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel compared M. Rajoy’s comment to the widely criticized statements of Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla.
After France eliminated Paraguay in the round of 16, this politician stated that star Kylian Mbappe is a “colonized Cameroonian who only pretended to be French.”
“They just can’t help spreading this disgusting racism,” said F. Roussel.
French Overseas Territories Minister Naima Moutchou called these comments proof of “systemic and widespread hatred of France and what this nation is.”
“Every time the ‘blues’ win, the same racist manias and insults resurface,” she said.
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