Perez visits Ceuta and insists Real Madrid trip was not linked to shirt controversy

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has said his visit to Ceuta was planned weeks ago and was not organised in response to the recent controversy involving three of the club’s players.

Perez attended an official ceremony at Ceuta’s town hall on Friday, 18 September 2026, to express Real Madrid’s support for the Spanish city in north Africa. He was received by Ceuta president Juan Jesus Vivas and accompanied by the club’s honorary president Jose Martinez Pirri, who was born in the city.

The visit followed the reaction to Real Madrid’s La Liga match against Elche last Tuesday, when Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Ibrahima Konate covered up the words “We are all mackerel” on their warm-up shirts.

The phrase referred to “mackerel”, a popular nickname for the people of Ceuta. The shirts had been designed as a gesture of solidarity with the city and its residents.

Mbappe addressed the incident on Wednesday, saying he “did not want to give priority to the suffering of one group over another”.

Real Madrid told Reuters that it respected its players’ freedom to make their own decisions. The club also pointed to its previous public support for Ceuta, including a large tifo displayed during the Champions League match against Inter Milan one week earlier.

Speaking at the town hall, Perez sought to rule out any connection between the ceremony and the shirt incident.

“I want to make clear, so there can be no doubt, that today’s event was arranged several weeks ago with the president of Ceuta, and not because of any recent news,” he said.

“I want to take this opportunity to express all our support, all our affection and our solidarity, in these extremely difficult times, to all the people of Ceuta. We hope that normality will return as soon as possible.”

The show of solidarity comes after events in the city in July, when more than 70,000 attempts were recorded to cross irregularly from Morocco into Ceuta. The situation led to widespread unrest and prompted a number of Spanish institutions, including sports clubs, to launch similar support initiatives.

A video published by EFE Noticias showed Perez travelling to Ceuta to convey Real Madrid’s “support”, “affection” and “solidarity” to the city’s residents during the migration crisis affecting the autonomous city.