Rayo Vallecano: the ‘daily soap opera’ of Spanish football’s working class heroes Rayo Vallecano are Madrid’s third team, Spain’s alternative – and uniquely intertwined with the local Vallecas community Take Line 1 […]

Rayo Vallecano are Madrid’s third team, Spain’s alternative – and uniquely intertwined with the local Vallecas community

Take Line 1 of the Madrid Metro east towards Valdecarros. Step off at Portazgo, between Nueva Numancia and Buenos Aires.

There is no Real Madrid here, nor Atletico.

This is Rayo Vallecano territory. This is Vallecas. This is the people’s republic of Vallekas.

The shops wear their colours on their sleeves, or more accurately their exterior. Stickers and slogans are part of the barrio’s charm, as are left-wing slogans.

Vallecas is a socialist stronghold in a city so strongly linked with Franco’s regime. Representing the barrio is Rayo Vallecano, Madrid’s third team. Spain’s alternative.

“I never really understood why they were interesting, why they protested so much, who they were. It was natural curiosity which led me to Rayo,” Robbie Dunne, author of ‘Working Class Heroes’, tells i.

“I was trying to figure out why they are so close to the community. I spoke to sociologists, historians – there is no real answer.”

The last of the barrio teams

What is clear when speaking to Dunne is that when it comes to Rayo – who currently play in Spain’s second tier – and Vallecas, it is hard to separate one from the other.

Whether it is the fans, the team, the politics or the community, everything feeds into one another. Everything is intertwined.

“It’s not just about signing a playing contract, it’s about signing a social contract” Robbie Dunne

This is Rayo Vallecano.

Dunne explains: “They are very vocal, they stand up to the status quo, they feel like outsiders. They are so close to the community, their slogan is ‘Poor but proud’.

“It’s a beautiful thing, they’re the last of the barrio teams, the last of the community teams. They represent Vallecas.

“Every other club in La Liga are within a city, representing that city. Rayo Vallencao is solely Vallecas. They are representing that community.”

The Rainbow strip In 2015 the club unveiled a rainbow kit in support of seven causes. The black top featured a sash made up of six colours: red for cancer, orange for the integration of disabled people, yellow for ‘those who have lost hope’, green for the environment, blue for the fight against child abuse, pink for the victims of domestic violence. The colours together represent LGBT, with €7 from each shirt split between the seven causes. It was widely lauded, although some fans did have reservations, regarding the move as a marketing ploy.

The area of Vallecas is holding off gentrification.

Once one of the worst neighbourhoods in Madrid, it remains very much a working-class barrio. A community which looks out for each other. For their football club and vice versa.

A collection of toys for kids at Christmas is organised, while the club hit the headlines in 2014 when they vowed to pay the rent for an 85-year-old widow evicted from her Madrid home because her son could not pay his debts.

The Bukaneros, the club’s most high-profile set of fans, act as a watchdog over the team, making sure the players are giving back.

The fans’ influence was seen when they protested the signing of Ukrainian Roman Zozulya, who they believed had far-right links. He lasted only one training session before his loan deal was cancelled.

“It’s not just about signing a playing contract, it’s about signing a social contract,” says Dunne. “You are going to represent Rayo and Vallecas in the way you are supposed to.

“The Bukaneros are completely against modern football, they are anti-fascist, anti-homophobic, anti-racist. They are all about supporting their team and showing up to the stadium every week, making sure it is as loud as possible.

“In terms of their social cause, if they feel like there is something they can help out with, they will lend their hand to that.

“They are portrayed in a bad light because the world ‘ultra’ is, by its very definition, someone who is extreme. They are just extreme about their fandom.”

Controversy and ‘craziness’

However, this is not a club which embraces stability, and the fans’ outspoken style leads to ructions.

Relegated in 2016, their demotion to the Segunda wasn’t without its controversy, with players and management having to defend themselves against match-fixing allegations.

Now fans are railing against the club’s owner about the standard of their Vallecas home, owned by the community of Madrid.

“The stadium is part of their folklore, part of their identity,” says Dunne. “There was a campaign last year of fans posting pictures of toilets with no seats on them, no toilet paper, bird shit on seats, rusty barriers. Not entirely safe and not a nice place to look at.”

He adds: “A craziness seems to surround the club, no matter what they do they can never get away from it.

“Their previous owner, Jose Maria Ruiz-Mateos, was controversial . He had an ongoing battle with people who were trying to take his company away from him.

“He dressed up as Superman and announced: ‘There’s no justice in Spain so I had to call my friend from America Clark Kent.’

“There was the time Real Madrid were playing Rayo on a Monday night in Vallecas, a day where even season ticket holders have to pay for the ticket.

“Someone cut the lights, left the game in darkness. The front cover of Diario AS said “Sabotage”, while the club’s president called it ‘football terrorism’.

“It’s like a soap opera on a daily basis.”