Barcelona defender Alejandro Valde says he was racially abused by Getafe supporters during Saturday's 1-1 draw at the Stadio Olimpico.

Balde, who is black, revealed that the incidents occurred in the first half of the La Liga match and that he made a suggestion to referee Pablo González Fuertes.

"I received several racist insults from fans here," the left-back said in a post-match interview with Movistar.

"It's sad and something that shouldn't continue to happen. I reported what happened in the first half to the referee. He activated the league's protocol in the second half, but I don't know how it works from there."

La Liga's protocol allows referees to stop play if they observe racist behavior or are alerted to a racist incident by a player.

An announcement was then played over the stadium's PA system explaining the reason for the suspension of play, adding that players would be removed from the pitch if incidents continued.

If the behavior does not stop upon their return, the device will be abandoned.

The referee's report read: "At half-time, while the visiting team's number three player was still on the pitch, he sent a racist message directed at him to my assistant.

"Upon entering the locker room, I translated this to representatives from both teams and security forces inside the stadium and implemented anti-racism protocols before the start of the second half."

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick condemned the actions of those who insulted Balde.

"There is no space for that, either in football or in life," Flick told a news conference. "It's unbelievable. It's completely wrong. They have to stay at home and not go to the games. We They must be fought.

"Also, the people around them, they could do something about it. At the end of the day, that's not the respect we want to live with together."

It was the second racist incident reported in Spain on Saturday. Second division side Elche also said defender Bamber Diaby was abused during their 1-1 draw with Sporting Gijon.

Elche said local police in Gijón had identified one of the alleged perpetrators, while La Liga issued a statement condemning what happened and saying they would refer the case to prosecutors for hate crimes.

In recent years, there have been many cases of racist insults against players in Spanish football, and Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior has been targeted many times.

La Liga and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) have been committed to combating racism in the game.

In June last year, three Valencia fans were jailed for eight months for racially abusing Vinicius during a La Liga match in May 2023, the first such sentence in the country.

In September, a court handed down a 12-month suspended sentence to a Mallorca fan who made racist insults to Vinicius and Villarreal's Samuel Chukwueze in February 2023.

A month later, Spain's national police arrested four people for launching a hate campaign against Vinicius.