Racing Santander players defied Franco regime with 1975 protest

OPA WIRE, Oct 24 (OPA) — On Sept. 18, 1975, Aitor Aguirre and Sergio Manzanera took the field at the Sardinero stadium wearing black boot laces tied around their arms. The protest followed the execution of five militants from the FRAP and ETA groups, who were shot at dawn in Hoyo de Manzanares, Barcelona, and Burgos. The executions, authorized by the government of Carlos Arias Navarro, drew international condemnation and sparked protests across Europe, yet the Spanish sporting establishment remained largely silent.

Aguirre and Manzanera, who had been listening to the clandestine Radio Pirenaica at their hotel, decided to act as a public statement against the regime. During the match against Elche, which Racing won 2-1 with two goals from Aguirre, the players were confronted by plainclothes police in the tunnel at halftime. They were ordered to remove the makeshift armbands and summoned to a police station the following morning under the Anti-Terrorist Law.

While the club president, José Manuel López-Alonso, initially attempted to shield the players by claiming the mourning was for a former club official, the incident led to legal proceedings. Prosecutors sought five-year prison sentences, and the players faced fines of 300,000 pesetas, later reduced to 100,000. The case was eventually dropped following the death of Francisco Franco in November 1975.

Reflecting on the event in 2025, Aguirre noted that their status as public figures likely prevented more severe physical retaliation from authorities. The protest remains a significant historical footnote in Spanish football, contrasting with the broader institutional caution of the era. The episode is often cited alongside other political tensions of the period, such as Santiago Bernabéu’s 1973 diplomatic incident involving Israeli officials, which highlighted the regime's fragile international standing.