It is rare to see the world of politics and football overlap publicly, but David Villa has thrust himself into a political firestorm with his support for protesting Spanish miners whose Black March arrived in Madrid on Wednesday. Villa’s family, largely based in Asturias, has a history of work in the mines in this region; Villa himself took to the Twittersphere three times to issue supportive statements. In one of them he declared his “support and solidarity with the miners. The Black March conquered Madrid tonight and today the protest continues.”

The march led a group of 200 miners over a 400km trek during three weeks and was met in Madrid by over 100,000 supporters. For more on the Black March, check out this report in The Guardian

Image: @MartaTejerina