Rayo Vallecano - Atlético Madrid moved to Butarque amid fan boycott, mariachis and resale surge
LaLiga's decision late on Thursday, Feb. 12 to relocate the Rayo Vallecano – Atlético Madrid fixture to the Estadio de Butarque has triggered a fraught build-up. Season-ticket holders collected tickets at the club's training ground while protests, a brief mariachi performance, and a spike in resale prices marked a tense day ahead of the match.
Scenes at the training ground: mariachis, queues and police
The club opened five distribution desks across the training complex and made seats available for more than 12, 000 season-ticket holders in an uninterrupted schedule intended to run from 4: 00 to 17: 00 ET. In the first three hours of the process roughly 1, 000 subscribers retrieved their places, with activity described as steady but controlled.
Early arrivals encountered an unexpected spectacle. At about 3: 00 ET a group of mariachis performed the well-known song "Rata de Dos Patas, " directed at the club president Raúl Martín Presa. The performance lasted about 15 minutes before police intervened because the musicians did not have the necessary public-performance permits. Several national and municipal police officers were posted at the facility entrance throughout the morning to manage access and preserve order.
Torn tickets, resale frenzy and a supporters' boycott
Lines formed throughout the morning despite the calm processing. Informational pickets circulated copies of a communiqué distributed by supporters' groups on Friday, and a number of season-ticket holders deliberately tore up the tickets they had just collected to ensure their seats would remain vacant at Butarque. Organised peñas are urging a mass boycott and that call appears to be widely followed; club sources estimate that attendance from the home fanbase will fall far short of a full crowd, with expectations of roughly 4, 000 to 4, 500 Rayo season-ticket holders present.
Meanwhile, tickets for the match began to appear on resale markets at prices ranging between €60 and €100. Those listings prompted anger among supporters who say resale undermines the boycott and risks producing the same images they are trying to avoid. The club faces the complex task of honoring season-ticket conditions while accommodating the reality of the relocation and the supporters' protest.
Club stance and logistics for abonados
The club has made clear its opposition to the decision to stage the match at Butarque, describing the move as one that produces significant social, sporting and economic harm. It says it committed all available human, material and financial resources to keep the fixture at the home stadium on the originally scheduled date but was unable to prevent the relocation.
In line with the season-ticket terms for this campaign, the club will provide access arrangements for its abonados at the new venue. Officials are working to define the best possible process to enable entry for season-ticket holders and said they will outline the required steps for fans on Friday, Feb. 13 in a formal communication. The club's stated priority is to guarantee access for its members while navigating the logistical challenges created by the transfer of the match.
Supporter groups have also called a demonstration set for Sunday at 7: 00 ET at the municipal office near the Nueva Numancia metro stop, adding another flashpoint to a weekend already shaped by dispute and dissent.
With less than 48 hours to go before kickoff, the situation remains charged: a club contesting a relocation decision, thousands of season-ticket holders split between attending and boycotting, and a resale market profiting from an unsettled fixture list. The match now looms as much more than a sporting contest; it will be a visible test of supporter unity and club authority.
