The Vinícius case, the insults suffered by the Real Madrid player in Mestalla, has contaminated the Valencian political campaign of 28M. All the Valencian political leaders strongly condemned yesterday the racism suffered by the striker. But they also criticized the generation of a climate of opinion, from certain media actors in Madrid, which extends or considers all Mestalla fans and, by extension, Valencians, complicit in the intolerable attitude of a group of fans, three of which have already been identified thanks to the collaboration of Valencia C.F., arrested and denounced for hate crimes.
Certain affirmations in national television programs and some front pages of sports newspapers published in Madrid, in which Mestalla and the Valencianistas, the Valencians, after all, were blamed for these racist attitudes, outraged the fans of Valencia and they forced the candidates to vary their program to intervene in the controversy. The first to react were the aspirants from the left.
The Valencian president, Ximo Puig, affirmed that "the Valencian Community is not a racist community and it is very unfair that this problem is focused on it". “This is probably the most open society in Spain, the one that has always shown zero tolerance towards racism and racists, to say that this problem is Valencian is false, because it is not at all”, he added. The PSPV and Compromís warned yesterday of the risk of trying, as happened with corruption in the past, to stigmatize all Valencians due to the conduct of a few, in this case a small group of fans.
Along the same lines, the socialist candidate for the Valencia City Council, Sandra Gómez, spoke out, denouncing that they are “trying to generalize an image of blaming the fans of Valencianism; There is no racism here, it is outrageous that they try to blame all the fans and the Valencians”. The socialist leader stated that "there is an unfair smear campaign" against the city through "a story started from Madrid" that damages the "image and reputation" of the municipality.
The mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribó, was tougher, who after condemning these behaviors assessed that "we perceive a certain centralist idea in this controversy, because problems of this type exist in all the fields and cities of Spain." The Compromís candidate stated that "centralism, in sport and in so many other areas, is unfair and detrimental to everyone, it is also bad for Madrid, let no one be fooled." The mayor added that "you cannot claim an exemplary sanction when it happens in Valencia and look the other way when it happens in Madrid."
The candidate of the Valencian coalition for the Generalitat, Joan Baldoví, and the president of the Corts Valencianes, Enric Morera, expressed similar terms. Baldoví defended the "amplification of the problem because it indicates a problem that happens in all soccer fields", but pointed out that it happens "at the Bernabéu too", in an interview with Plaza Radio. And he considered that paying more attention to a defect in society like this is "welcome, because it points to a problem of racism on which some parties look the other way, and you have to be inflexible as Valencia CF has done."
The Valencian PP took longer to express itself on this issue, but it fully entered the debate. His candidate for the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, said that he formulated a double condemnation: "to any racist conduct but also to any attempt to criminalize Valencian society." The popular candidate for mayor of Valencia, María José Català, pointed out for her part that “we all know that when something affects Madrid it is magnified; We are against the racism that is present in all fields, and we have to be forceful, but to say that Mestalla is racist is to say that my family is racist”. In parallel, the social networks boiled yesterday with messages against the framework created by some media from Madrid.
The Cs candidate for the Valencia City Council, Fernando Giner, also spoke, lamenting that "it is not fair how Madrid is treating us." "Why do we Valencians have to justify ourselves before the narrative that they want to impose on us?" and he warned that "what Madrid is doing right now without realizing it is feeding nationalism, and that is why my obligation right now is to demand the utmost respect for our city." The Vox candidate, Juanma Badenas: "You cannot criminalize an entire city like Valencia and Valencia CF for the conduct of a very small group of people."
