Spaniards have shared their outrage after British visitors caused damage in a major city.
During the build up to last week’s UEFA Europa League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in Bilbao, fans were spotted scaling traffic lights, drinking and urinating in the street.
Spurs beat United 1-0 to claim the club’s first European title in over four decades but locals were less than impressed with supporters’ behaviour in the build up.
X users shared their frustrations with fan behaviour, as one said “local citizens” would have to pay to repair the damage from their taxes.
They added: “The worst thing about this is that the Europa League doesn’t pay any taxes.”
Another said: “If they did this for anything else other than football, our jails would be full. Football seems to give a free pass to almost any behaviour.”
A third added: “In Benidorm they have to put up with this all year, alcoholic lowlives.”
In one viral video from last week’s fixture, a Bilbao resident came out onto his balcony to fend off Manchester United fans who had scaled some scaffolding to affix club flags to the structure.
The man can be seen on a balcony with a stick sharpened at one end, which he pokes at the fans sporting United hats and scarves on the top of the scaffolding to ward them off.
Another video from the nearby city of San Sebastian, where many fans travelled to after direct flights to Bilbao were snapped up, showed rival fans fighting.
It shows Brits punching each other and throwing bar tables in the city and has been screened on a number of Spanish news networks.
Despite these incidents, police in Bilbao said they had been “pleased” with the running of the final, with just six arrests made and “few” incidents recorded.
Some 50,000 tickets were available for the final at the San Mamés stadium, home of Athletic Bilbao, but thousands more descended on the city without a pass for the final.
Many watched the game in fan parks and even nightclubs in Bilbao, where fans witnessed Brennan Johnson’s winning goal claim the European title for Ange Postecoglou’s side.
