Palestine are set to play a friendly match in Bilbao this November, to ‘pay homage to the victims of a genocide at the hands of Israel’.  The match will take place against the Basque National Team, a Football Federation not officially recognised by FIFA.

The Palestine team which came close to a play to qualify for the World Cup earlier this year, will play at San Mames on the 15th of November, as per Cadena SER. The game has been organised by the Basque Football Federation with the Palestinian Football Federation, and the game will take place in memory of the victims on the Gaza strip, and has been the cause for celebration in the Palestinian Federation.

Athletic Club show solidarity with Palestine

Ahead of Athletic Club’s Champions League opener against Arsenal, in which they fell to a 2-0 defeat, the Athletic fans showed a banner of the Palestinian flag, which showed the following statement in Basque: We will be by your side from today until the last day.

La Vuelta a España controversy

The Israeli invasion of Gaza has been a hot-button topic across the globe, but Spain were one of the first countries to recognise Palestine as a country last year, and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has publicly spoken out against Israeli military action and the rising death toll, as South Africa take Israel to court accusing them of a genocide in the International Court of Justice.

Meanwhile in recent weeks, Spain’s premier cycling competition, La Vuelta a España, was forced to end several days of racing early, and cancelled their entry into Madrid on the final day due to major protests throughout against the inclusion of an Israeli team.

Contrast with Real Madrid

This stance has not taken hold everywhere though. The President of the Madrid regional government Isabel Diaz Ayuso announced this week a ban on Palestinian flags at schools and universities. Meanwhile Palestinian flags were removed from fans on their way into the Santiago Bernabeu ahead of Real Madrid’s clash with Olympique Marseille on Tuesday.