In Madrid, where the club’s own television channel has become an increasingly forceful part of Real Madrid’s public voice, a dispute with the press has moved beyond the usual post-match irritation. The latest confrontation centres on Cadena Cope and Juanma Castaño, presenter and director of El Partidazo, after comments in which he compared Real Madrid TV with the newspaper Gara.
Castaño has since accepted that the comparison was a mistake. Gara had a close association with ETA during the years when the terrorist organisation was active, making the reference particularly charged in Spain. His acknowledgement, however, has not brought the matter to a close at the Bernabéu.
Real Madrid TV answers back
Real Madrid’s social-media accounts have circulated an unusual report produced by the club’s official television channel, revisiting controversies involving Castaño over recent years. The programme presents the broadcaster’s case against the journalist rather than limiting itself to a response to the Gara comparison.
One episode revived in the report dates from the 2018 Champions League quarter-final between Real Madrid and Juventus. Madrid reached the semi-finals after a late penalty was awarded for a foul on Lucas Vázquez, a decision that provoked fierce argument across Europe. At the time, Castaño described the incident as a “world scandal”.
The club channel has used that history to turn Castaño’s own language back towards him, accusing him of lying, manipulating, singling people out and harassing them. Those were the same accusations the presenter had levelled at Real Madrid TV.
The exchange underlines the hardening relationship between Madrid and parts of Spain’s sporting media. Florentino Pérez has long made clear his hostility towards what he regards as hostile press coverage, and the club’s decision to promote an RMTV-produced rebuttal through its official accounts suggests that this disagreement is no longer being treated as a passing radio-row.
