Scottish newspaper sparks fury with message to England team before Euro final

A Scottish newspaper has sparked fury with its frontpage ahead of England’s match against Spain in the Euro 2024 final this weekend.

The National’s page one on Saturday shows a Spanish footballer kicking an English tourist shaped like a football – with the headline ‘Out for Revenge’

The front page urges Spain to beat the Three Lions in Sunday’s game, asking the team to ‘save us from an England win (or we’ll never hear the end of it’.

It adds: “Every summer they fill up your beaches. They drink all your beer. They make a mess of your plazas.

“They eat fried breakfasts all day instead of your wonderful food. They retire in your towns and sponge off your public services.”

The frontpage sparked fury among England fans on X, formerly Twitter, including some living in Scotland.

One person wrote: ” As an English person living and working in Scotland and having done so for 14 years I actually find this quite xenophobic.

“It wouldn’t be considered acceptable the other way around. A bit of banter is one thing but this is just unpleasant and unnecessary.”

Another called it ‘mean spirited’, adding: “And do the Scottish not got on holiday to Spain, fill up beaches and eat fried breakfasts – or is this equal opportunity self hatred?”

A third said: “Why are the Scottish always against the English? I’m always supportive of the Scottish, because Scotland is a lovely country, why not grow up and show you’re adults? Very sad.”

Other people took less offence and chose pity, one X user wrote: “I love the fact my nationality gets right on your wicks. I take no offence. It’s funny and sad at the same time.”

The page has even annoyed Scottish readers, one said: “Xenophobic cover. As a Scot, I totally reject this. You are insulting Scotland. It does not correspond to Scottish values at all.

“You should read Scottish Enlightenment philosophy. Scots have strongly contributed to English football with Alex Ferguson, etc. Shameful.”

The depiction of English tourists in Spain as overweight and unappreciative of the culture comes amidst ongoing concerns about overtourism in the country.

Visitors to Barcelona have been blasted with water guns in recent days – with mass protests against tourism in other parts of the country.