Real Madrid TV rejects Juanma Castaño's apology over Gara comparison as row deepens

Real Madrid TV has publicly rejected Juanma Castaño’s apology after the COPE journalist walked back a column in which he compared the club’s in-house channel to Gara, a publication historically associated with the Basque abertzale left and the financial network once linked to ETA.

RMTV presenter Álvaro de la Lama used the club’s official platform to push back on Castaño, arguing that the apology resolved nothing of substance. De la Lama acknowledged that Castaño had retracted the specific Gara reference but pointed out that the journalist had simultaneously maintained his wider claim that RMTV lies, manipulates, singles out, and harasses in its coverage. In de la Lama’s view, withdrawing one word while preserving the full accusation amounted to renewing the attack rather than ending it.

The dispute began when Castaño published a column in ABC drawing the Gara comparison. Real Madrid responded with a formal club statement describing the comparison as an extremely serious act that crossed every acceptable line. Castaño subsequently apologised on his radio programme El Partidazo, calling the Gara reference excessive, but stopped well short of retracting his broader criticism of the channel’s editorial conduct.

De la Lama was direct about why the original comparison carried particular weight for him personally. He cited the historical associations attached to Gara and its ties to ETA’s era, arguing that no partial apology could adequately address being placed in that category while the underlying accusations of dishonesty remained on the table.

He also pointed to RMTV’s ongoing coverage of refereeing decisions as evidence that the channel’s output is grounded in documented footage rather than manipulation, arguing that the record of broadcasts speaks for itself.

Both parties have now stated their positions publicly. Whether the exchange produces a further response from Castaño or a new statement from the club remains to be seen.