Barcelonas Lamine Yamal Faces Majority of Online Racist Abuse in Spain

A new Oberaxe study revealed that Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal received 60% of all racist online attacks in Spain during the 2024-25 season, double that of Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior (29%). Out of 33,438 detected incidents, 62% came from Facebook. Real Madrid and Barcelona accounted for 66% of all hate speech targeted at La Liga clubs.

When the Spanish Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia (Oberaxe) released its findings on online abuse during the 2024-25 La Liga season, it revealed a shocking reality, as Barcelona’s teenage star Lamine Yamal was targeted in 60 percent of all racist attacks detected online in Spain. The report, obtained by El Pais, showed that Oberaxe used artificial intelligence to identify 33,438 racist messages, with 62 percent coming from Facebook and 10 percent from X (Twitter).

Yamal’s share of abuse was twice that of Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, who accounted for 29 percent of such attacks. Real’s Kylian Mbappe and Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde each faced around 2 to 3 percent of the total incidents. The study also found that Real Madrid and Barcelona were the primary targets of online hate, receiving 34 and 32 percent of all detected abuse, respectively.

Other affected clubs included Real Valladolid (17 percent), Valencia (eight percent), and Athletic Club and Real Sociedad (six percent each). Earlier this year, five individuals received suspended sentences for racially abusing Vinicius in 2022, a landmark ruling in Spain’s fight against racism. Both Yamal and Vinicius are set to feature in La Liga action on Sunday, as Barcelona face Celta Vigo and Real Madrid meet Rayo Vallecano.