9 Frequently Asked Questions About Watching Football in Spain

I answer some of the most common questions I’ve received over the years about the ins and outs of watching football in Spain.

I thought I’d try something a bit different from normal in this post. Over the last ten years, I’ve received a lot of questions about the dos and don’ts of watching football in Spain and I thought that it would be good to publish some of the most frequently asked questions and my best attempts at answering them for posterity.

How Long Should I Stay? ✈️

It’s a sad fact of watching La Liga that you won’t know the exact time of the match until a maximum of four or five weeks before. So if you want to make sure you see the game you’re planning to see, then staying from Friday-Tuesday is your best bet.

Teams in Europe will pretty much never play in the Monday night TV slot while the continental competitions are running, which from this season on will take up a longer period of time than before.

One more thing, just be wary of the dreaded modificaciones. Kick-off times are not set in stone even after La Liga announce them. In the early part of the season, it is extremely common for games to be moved to later in the day to avoid playing in the warmest temperatures. When the Copa del Rey is in full swing in January and February, expect games to be moved around to accommodate teams playing midweek and then towards the end of the season when European commitments will require rescheduling.

How Do I Get Tickets? 🎟️

Fortunately this is usually quite easy, the vast majority of clubs offer online ticket sales where you can go and pick your own seat and download a printable or digital ticket to scan at the ground.

I say the vast majority, because there’s one significant hold-out. Rayo Vallecano, in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty four, still do not have an online ticketing system. To put this into perspective, I was able to purchase a (free) ticket for a pre-season friendly involving a ninth tier team this summer but to buy a ticket to see Rayo in La Liga, you have to go to the ticket office at the stadium and queue. Sales times will only be announced a few days before the game as well.

How Much Should I Expect to Pay? 💶

That very much depends. Spanish clubs are essentially allowed to set their own prices depending on the opposition and circumstances.

Obviously you can expect to pay much more if Real Madrid or Barcelona are visiting. A lot of clubs have a very questionable practice known as día del club where the home game against these clubs, and often their local derby too, are not included in their season ticket, which allows them to charge a premium for those matches.

Games in August are often priced lower than average because a lot of people take their holidays in that month and the stadiums are generally emptier than normal. Similarly you can often get better prices on midweek league games as people in Spain generally work and eat late and the kick-off times are more geared to a TV audience than people actually going to the stadium. In general, most clubs have their cheapest tickets behind the goals, one of which will usually incorporate the grada animación where the ultra groups are stationed.

I went on the website just after tickets went on sale and there aren’t any showing up. Am I out of luck? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Relax, it’s not already sold out. The lack of seats appearing is because most of them are occupied by season ticket holders, quite a lot of whom don’t go to every match and will take up the option of freeing up their seat for this particular game. Keep looking and you should be able to find something suitable, though bear in mind that getting multiple seats together for big games may be difficult.

The ticket portal asks for a DNI number when purchasing, what is that and what do I do if I don’t have one? 🪪

Every Spanish citizen has a national identity card (Documento Nacional de Identidad) which is the main form of identification used by most people.

Resident foreigners in Spain can use their NIE (Número de Identificación de Extranjero) here but if you’re just visiting, I always recommend people to use their passport number. Being asked to show your documentation when attending a game is very rare (personally, it has never happened to me) but you might want to keep it with you just in case.

When should I get to the ground? 🏟️

My personal recommendation is to always leave plenty of time to get there - half an hour before kick-off should be fine. If it’s your first time and you want to soak up the atmosphere, take photos and find your seat easily then it’s much more convenient to do that if thousands of other people aren’t trying to do the same.

There’s always a late rush to get in and the last thing you want is to miss the start while standing in a queue waiting to scan your ticket or in one of the bigger stadiums, climbing endless flights of stairs.

I bought a ticket in the home end to watch my team as an away fan. Can I wear colours? 🧣

Spain generally has a much more relaxed attitude to fans mixing at games than the UK. I’ve been to several Deportivo La Coruña away games wearing colours in the home end and never had any issues as well as plenty of games as a neutral where fans have mixed pretty freely.

You can also try and find out where the away section is and try and buy a ticket for one of the surrounding areas, which many fans who aren’t able to get part of the official away allocation will do.

Obviously be sensible. It’s maybe not the best idea to wear colours in the home end against your club’s biggest rivals. A few years ago I witnessed a few Real Madrid fans being escorted out of the Metropolitano after they celebrated their team’s opening goal in the Derby. Some clubs will even put “Home Fans Only” on the tickets and state that they reserve the right to refuse admission to people wearing away colours. So maybe think twice if you see that.

What can I bring into the ground? 🎒

A small bag to hold any personal items is absolutely fine. You will be asked to open it for a search as you go in.

It’s perfectly acceptable, indeed almost expected for you to bring in your own food. El bocata se come en el descanso is a proper tradition for Spanish matchgoers, within seconds of the half-time whistle the stadium reverberates with the sound of sandwiches being unwrapped from tinfoil, many of which will have been lovingly prepared at home. If you can’t prepare one yourself, visit a bar on the way and save yourself from the often extortionate stadium prices.

In terms of bringing in drinks, it goes without saying that you can’t take any alcohol in - stadiums in La Liga and Segunda will only serve zero alcohol beer and only plastic bottles of a maximum of 500ml are allowed, without their cap of course. Drinks inside the stadium will cost more than outside, but one upside is that many clubs now sell reusable plastic cups which will reduce the cost of subsequent drinks and act as a nice souvenir of your visit too.

In terms of protecting yourself from the elements, I’ve had mixed experiences. I once had a mostly-full bottle of sun cream confiscated at the Metropolitano for an early afternoon game where I was sitting in the full glare of the sun for the full 90 minutes. Since then I usually keep a small travel-sized bottle (50ml) on me and have never had any problems.

Since quite a few Spanish grounds are at least partially uncovered, bringing an umbrella to guard against the rain is a fairly good idea. It’s generally better to take a compact one which can fit inside your bag, I have been asked to leave my larger one with the stewards on a couple of occasions.

Where can I find out about other games? ⚽️

By far the best place is the Futbology App which now includes fixtures for every Spanish league down to the sixth tier, along with kick-off times and directions to the grounds. To go to games any lower down, check the regional football federation websites.

Unfortunately it’s sometimes hard to find out information about lower league games, many will be free, especially in the lower regional tiers, but it is always a good idea to bring cash if you end up having to buy a ticket or want to buy any refreshments.