Spanish gov't outlines security plans for Real Madrid - FC Barcelona game

The security plans for Saturday's 'Clasico' game between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona were confirmed on Thursday evening following a meeting between Concepcion Dancausa, the Government Delegate in Madrid with security forces and other agencies who will be involved in ensuring the safety of the supporters attending the match.

The biggest domestic club football match in the world will take place 8 days after the terrorist attack in Paris which left 129 people dead and with the Santiago Bernabeu having been targeted by terrorist actions: a car bomb which injured 9 people in 2002 and a false alarm which saw it evacuated during a game in 2004.

As well as security forces, Dancausa met with representatives of the Madrid Town Hall, Real Madrid, the Madrid Metro and members of the Red Cross, the Provincial Brigade for Citizens' Security and the Provincial Information Brigade.

The 80,000 supporters attending Saturday's match will be protected by 1,200 members of the National Police Force, supported by 122 local police, 1,195 private security guards and the help of 80 workers from the Madrid emergency services and 60 from the Red Cross.

Fans will have to pass through three separate security cordons around the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium and have been told to expect to be thoroughly searched at each of their controls.

They have been asked to travel as lightly as possible as "even their sandwiches are going to be searched."

"The security measures will be those which are habitual for a high-risk game, but they have been reinforced by additional means, as a result of the extraordinary moment in which we find ourselves," said Dancausa at a press conference in which she asked fans to act "responsibly," and to have "full confidence in the professionality and efficiency" of those detailed to protect them. Endit