Disturbances marr Real Madrid title celebrations
Pitched battles between police and some Real Madrid supporters marred the Spanish football club's league title celebrations early on Monday.
Pitched battles between police and some Real Madrid supporters marred the Spanish football club's league title celebrations early on Monday.
Some Real Madrid fans who gathered at the traditional meeting place after the club wins a trophy, the Cibeles fountain in the centre of the Spanish capital, threw bottles, fireworks and other objects at the police.
Spanish television pictures showed police baton charging sections of the crowd and making arrests.
There were no official estimates of the size of the crowd although unofficial estimates made by Spanish television reporters present at Cibeles put the number in the region of 100,000.
Similarly, there are not yet any official details of the number of people detained by the Spanish police or of any injuries to police or Real fans.
Real Madrid won a record 30th Spanish league title on Sunday after beating Real Mallorca 3-1 in their own Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
The victorious Real squad arrived at Cibeles two hours after the end of Sunday's match, to the sight and sound of an official fireworks display.
Unlike after previous triumphs, when the whole squad have climbed over the statues in the centre of the fountains, this time Madrid city authorities only permitted club captain Raul Gonzalez to place a Real scarf on the statues.
The rest of the Real squad, including David Beckham, stayed on an open-top bus.
The Madrid authorities decided to restrict the number of players climbing Cibeles this year after recent incidents when Real squads have damaged the statues.
For many years, the city paid for repairs but the last two mayors of Madrid have also presented Real with the bill for damage sustained by the monuments.
The arrival of the Real squad - decked out in jerseys saying Campeones (Champions) with the number 30 on them - seemed to be the catalyst for the crowd disturbances.
Similar confrontations between the police and Real Madrid supporters have marred other recent triumphs, such as their last league win in 2003 and their last Champions League victory in 2002.
In addition, there were also serious confrontations between police and Real Madrid supporters in the provincial city of Alicante.
Police cordoned off one of the city's main squares and pushed the fans into neighbouring streets.
After being pelted with bottles, the police responded by firing rubber rounds at youths.
Alicante police have also not yet released any figures of arrests or injuries.