A Betfair study, ‘Love and Hate in Spain: Football as Religion’, conducted with over 1,000 respondents, indicates Real Madrid has the largest fanbase but is also widely seen as benefiting most from refereeing decisions.
Spanish football fandom is primarily split between Real Madrid and Barcelona. While regional variations exist across Spain’s autonomous communities, these two clubs remain the most supported nationwide. Betfair’s study, titled ‘Love and Hate in Spain: Football as Religion: This is How Spaniards Are as a Footballing Tribe’, based on over 1,000 interviews with men and women, revealed several key conclusions.
Real Madrid: Spain’s most popular club
The survey identified Real Madrid as the most supported club, favoured by 35% of respondents, compared to Barcelona’s 27%. Atletico Madrid ranked a distant third with 7%. Real Madrid holds the top spot in 10 autonomous communities, whereas Barcelona leads only in Catalonia.
Regionally, Real Betis is the most popular choice among Andalusians (25%), though Real Madrid claims higher overall support in Andalusia (29%). In a notable outcome for the Valencian Community, both Valencia (33%) and Real Madrid (32%) recorded very similar levels of support.
Real Betis: The most liked club
Real Betis is considered the most sympathetic club by fans nationwide. When asked ‘if your team disappeared, which one would you switch to?’, 18% of respondents chose the Green and Whites. Furthermore, their fanbase is rated as the most well-liked, at 28%.
Conversely, Real Madrid and Barcelona are jointly ranked highest, significantly ahead of other clubs, with 34% of respondents identifying them as the teams they would most prefer to see ‘erased from the map’.
Real Madrid perceived as the most favoured by referees
A significant finding indicates that Spaniards widely perceive Real Madrid (51%) and Barcelona (44%) as the teams most favoured by referees. Atletico Madrid ranked a distant third, with only 2%.
Among specific fanbases, perceptions vary. A significant majority of Real Madrid fans (89%), along with supporters of Real Sociedad (67%), Elche (86%), and Mallorca (67%), consider Barcelona to be the most favoured. Conversely, fans of Atletico Madrid, the country’s third-largest fanbase, largely consider Real Madrid as the most favoured (71%), followed by Barcelona (26%).
Notably, only 4% of both Real Madrid and Barcelona fans believe their own teams benefit most from refereeing decisions.
