The government delegate in Cantabria, Eugenia Gómez de Diego, chaired on Tuesday an Extraordinary Security Board on the occasion of the final of the UEFA Europa League 2025, which will be played this Wednesday, May 21 in Bilbao between Manchester United and Tottenham, and which will have a direct impact on Cantabria by the arrival of some 3,000 English fans.
Although the meeting is held in the Basque Country, due to our proximity to Bilbao and the good connections, its impact will be noted in Cantabria, especially in Santander, which will become one of the lodging points of British followers, with about 1,000 hotel reservations registered, according to the estimates of the organizers and the security forces and bodies based on the information provided by the hotel sector.
Faced with this forecast, an extensive security and reinforcement device has been activated in key infrastructures, especially in the Seve Ballestries-Santander Airport, as reported by the Government delegate.
The Cantabrian airport will play a key role in the operation, with 48 operations linked to the sporting event between charter, private and operational flights. In the absence of a definitive end to the programme, 10 flights with Manchester United supporters (one today Tuesday and 9 on Wednesday), with around 2,000 fans, are scheduled to arrive. For the return, 12 departures have been scheduled, which will be done in a staggered manner during the morning and until the first hour of the morning, with an estimated departure volume of 2,500 passengers.
In addition, it must be taken into account that the airport operates throughout this week its 16 regular connections with the United Kingdom and Ireland, in which fans of both teams are expected to arrive, and will also serve as a stopover with other Spanish cities through domestic flights, as well as through the ferries of the company Brittany Ferries, so the number of English fans that will pass through the Community will be approximately 3,000.
In response to the timely increase in airport traffic, Gómez de Diego explained that the National Police Headquarters in Cantabria will have the reinforcement of the Clandestine Immigration Response Brigade (BRIC), sent by the Central Border Unit. In total, 52 troops will serve at border checkpoints until Thursday.
In terms of technical resources, two new Multidisciplinary Checkpoints have also been set up, bringing the number of operational checkpoints to five and increasing border control capacity by 66%, from 360 to 600 passengers per hour.
In addition, the Civil Guard will reinforce the troops and increase the presence at the Airport, in the Port of Santander, as well as in the towns bordering Vizcaya and, from the Traffic Group there will be a greater presence on the A-8 Motorway that connects with the Basque Country. To this end, there will be, among others, reinforcements from the Reserve and Security Group (GRS) from León.
Security device
As Gómez de Diego explained, the security device will cover not only the airport, but also train, bus and maritime stations, as well as hotels and leisure areas, with special attention to Santander, where around a thousand hotel reservations have been registered.
The Government delegate highlighted the "excellent coordination between administrations, security forces and entities involved", and highlighted the "positive impact" of the event on the tourism and services sector of the Community.
"I would like to highlight the excellent coordination between all the administrations, security bodies and entities involved, who have been working intensively over the last few weeks to prepare this special device and allow Cantabria, our hotel establishments, our restaurants, our trade, transport companies and services..., also to benefit directly from this sporting event," he said.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the National Police, the Civil Guard, the Cantabrian Government’s Presidential and Development Councils, the City of Santander, the Port, the Seve Ballesteros Airport and the Association of Local Police of Cantabria.