The Basque Country staged a friendly football match on Saturday between themselves and Palestine at San Mames in Bilbao, where around 50,000 supporters attended and displayed widespread solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
Home fans arrived with Palestinian flags and banners, creating a striking backdrop for a fixture in which both teams set aside sporting rivalry to call jointly for an end to what they described as genocide carried out by Israel.
The Basque Country squad was formed using players from Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad, while the Palestinian side was composed of footballers from the north western Catalonia region. With Spain’s senior national team occupied by World Cup qualifying commitments, organisers assembled a representative team from the wider Basque region. San Mamés quickly filled with red, green and black, as the stadium’s stands became a sea of Palestinian colours.
According to the Associated Press, the match formed part of a broad public reaction to Israeli military operations in Gaza. Organisers said all 50,000 tickets were sold, with supporters carrying both Palestinian flags and the flag of the northern Basque Country. Thousands also marched with Palestinian flags before kick off.
Protest across the Basque Country has grown since October 2023, when Israel launched its military response to attacks carried out by Hamas. In September of this year, Bilbao residents also demonstrated during an appearance by the Israeli cycling team, reflecting ongoing regional opposition to the conflict.
