Juanma Castaño apologises for Gara comparison but stands by his criticism of Real Madrid TV

Juanma Castaño has apologised for comparing Real Madrid TV with the newspaper Gara, while reiterating his assessment of the Real Madrid channel. The director of “El Partidazo” on COPE accused Real Madrid TV of “lying, manipulating, targeting people and harassing them.”

The journalist was responding to the statement issued by Real Madrid on Tuesday after his column in ABC. He acknowledged that his comparison was “excessive” and should not have been made: “I apologise for comparing Real Madrid TV with the newspaper Gara. I am sorry for that.”

Juanma Castaño nevertheless said that the rest of his opinion remained unchanged. According to him, his assessment is the same as in the rest of his article, was already the same the previous day, and will remain so until Real Madrid TV changes the way it operates.

In his column, entitled “Real Madrid at war”, he wrote that on the club’s official television channel, which he likened to the “Gara newspaper of ultra-Florentinismo”, some were calling for withdrawal from national competitions.

A few hours earlier, Real Madrid had responded strongly, describing the comparison as “absolutely deplorable and unacceptable”. The club considered that comparing its official media outlet to a newspaper “whose history is linked to the world of the ETA terrorist organisation” was an extremely serious act that crossed every line.