Spanish press react badly as Bale speaks ‘almost perfect’ Spanish to LAFC fans

Gareth Bale has ruffled more feathers in the Spanish media after conducting an interview for LAFC in the language.

The Welsh star ended his nine-year stay at the Santiago Bernabeu this summer when he left Spanish giants Real Madrid following the end of his contract at the club.

While five Champions League wins and three La Liga victories ensured that the 32-year-old would forever be written into the club’s history books, his relationship with fans and the local media was a little more complicated.

Bale failed to build the sort of relationship with the press that a player of his caliber would usually deserve, leading to his final years in Madrid being something of a disaster.

One key criticism aimed at him was his reported inability to speak the Spanish language, something that rubbed people up the wrong way.

However upon leaving the club, Bale has proved that he’s able to speak Spanish well after all.

Speaking to LAFC’s Latino contingent in Spanish on social media ahead of their 3-2 victory over rivals LA Galaxy, Bale said: “‘Hello Los Angeles!

“32:52. I’m here in Los Angeles. See you at the game tonight.”

This led to a response from Spanish newspaper Marca, that was less than complimentary.

In an article headlined ‘Bale goes to the United States to speak Spanish’, they wrote that he spoke the language in ‘almost perfect’ fashion and that ‘it has taken nine years to hear Gareth Bale speak Spanish well’. 

In an interview with The Times last year, Bale had addressed claims that he didn’t know Spanish, saying that the media in Spain created ‘a big drama’.

He said: “I speak well enough to get by and I understand everything that’s going on.

“The press were upset because I didn’t speak to them. And I didn’t speak to them in Spanish.

“So they obviously create this big drama, this big soap opera that I can’t do this and I can’t do that.”