MADRID (AP) — The Spanish league is finally playing a regular-season game in the United States.
La Liga confirmed Wednesday that Villarreal and Barcelona will face each other at Hard Rock Stadium near Miami on Dec. 20.
“This match is a historic step that takes La Liga and Spanish football to an all-new level,” Spanish league president Javier Tebas said.
Tebas and the league had been pushing for a regular-season game abroad for some time, with the first attempt coming in 2018 with a match between Barcelona and Girona, but the idea was dismissed after criticism from some players, fans and clubs. Its subsequent attempts also failed but the plan moved forward this time after UEFA on Monday gave its consent despite opposition from fan groups across the continent.
The European governing body did not oppose the plans by both the Spanish league and the Italian league, which wants to have AC Milan face Como in Australia early next year.
UEFA blamed a lack of clear rules from world soccer body FIFA to block the proposed games, which many fans see as a threat to cut teams’ ties to their home communities.
The Spanish soccer federation, which under previous administrations strongly opposed the league match abroad, also gave the go-ahead for La Liga’s plans this year.
“We are looking forward to reconnecting with all our fans in the United States and are grateful to La Liga for the opportunity to get closer to one of the club’s key strategic markets," Barcelona president Joan Laporta said. “We have been visiting the country for many years and have always felt the passion that FC Barcelona inspires.”
Staging a match abroad has long been part of the league’s goal of expanding its brand. A few years ago it signed a long-term partnership with sports and entertainment group Relevent Sports, which is part of Stephen Ross’ portfolio of companies that includes Hard Rock Stadium, the Miami Dolphins, Formula One’s Miami Grand Prix and the Miami Open tennis tournament.
Plans for the La Liga game in Miami were renewed after FIFA withdrew from a legal action brought by Relevent in a Manhattan court. Weeks later, FIFA said it would review its rules and created a working group that includes UEFA lawyers.
Relevent has since become a key commercial partner of UEFA and the influential and newly rebranded European Football Clubs, being entrusted this year to sell six years’ worth of commercial rights for the Champions League and other continental competitions through 2033.
Villarreal, playing in the Champions League this season, would nominally be the home team for the match in Miami, though Barcelona fans likely would comprise the vast majority at Hard Rock Stadium. Former Barcelona star Lionel Messi is the main attraction at Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.
“This is a unique opportunity for Villarreal CF to further its growth and strengthen its presence in a market as significant as the United States," Villarreal president Fernando Roig said. “With this initiative we can reach fans in other parts of the world and continue to expand both the club’s and La Liga’s brand.”
The league said Villarreal fans will be able to travel to the match free of charge. Those who choose not to attend will receive a 30% discount on their season ticket.
“We know that playing this game away from home will impact on our season-ticket holders, which is why we are implementing meaningful, concrete measures to compensate them,” Roig said. "We are confident it will be a great experience.”
Games abroad have become routine in U.S. pro sports leagues — with the NFL playing in several European cities — but still jar with European soccer culture that thrives on tribal rivalries and fans of visiting teams being in the stadium.
The league, which has a strategic partnership with ESPN, said the match “represents a milestone” in its long-term strategy in North America, where it has promoted grassroots programs, youth academies and sponsor activations.
It said “this milestone further strengthens the image of Spanish football as a global pioneer and benchmark. It also recognizes the growing popularity in football in the United States, coming at a pivotal moment ahead of the 2026 World Cup, hosted jointly by the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Barcelona starting players pose for a team photo at the beginning of the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Sevilla and Barcelona at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Seville, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior, right, and Dani Ceballos, second from left, challenge for the ball with Villarreal's Santiago Mourino, left, and Pape Gueye during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
MIAMI (AP) — It has been nearly three decades since a Democrat held the mayor’s office in Miami, a span of futility the party is hoping to reverse during a special runoff election this week in one of the last electoral showdowns before next year’s midterms.
While it is a local race, this election has become the latest test of the nation’s political mood nearly a year into President Donald Trump’s second term.
Trump and other big-name Florida Republicans, including Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott, have weighed in for the conservative candidate, former city manager Emilio Gonzalez, in the otherwise nonpartisan race. Nationally known Democrats, including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, have offered support on behalf of Eileen Higgins, a Democrat who served on the county commission before winning a runoff spot last month.
An upset for the Democrats on Tuesday would give the party an additional burst of momentum heading into a crucial election year when control of Congress will be at stake, especially in a region that has become increasingly friendly turf for Republicans and where Trump plans to build his presidential library.
Higgins, who lives in the Cuban enclave of Little Havana and had represented a district that leans conservative, proudly wears the label of “La Gringa,” a term Spanish speakers use for white Americans. A Spanish speaker herself, Higgins has focused her campaign relentlessly on local issues such as the cost of housing while capitalizing on national ones, including the treatment of immigrants under the Trump administration in a city with sizable Hispanic and foreign-born populations.
“I have been a Democrat serving in a primarily Republican district, and all I have done is work for the people,” she told The Associated Press.
Miami is Florida’s second most populous city, behind Jacksonville, but is the epicenter of the state’s diverse culture and is among the nation’s most prominent international destinations, giving its mayor an outsize platform.
The city of 487,000 is part of Miami-Dade County, which Trump flipped last year, handily defeating Democrat Kamala Harris after losing the county to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. A loss for Gonzalez would be perceived in Florida as a setback for the GOP and Trump.
Christian Ulvert, Higgins’ campaign manager, said early returns of mail ballots are encouraging. About 44% had been cast by registered Democrats as of Thursday, a day before early in-person voting began, compared with about 30% by registered Republicans.
“What you’re seeing is great Democratic enthusiasm and turnout that matches that enthusiasm,” he said.
Higgins, who would be the first non-Hispanic mayor of Miami in almost 30 years if elected, said she is confident she will receive support not only from Democrats, but also from unaffiliated voters and some Republicans because of her work as an elected official.
Her pitch to voters includes finding city-owned land that could be turned into affordable housing and cutting unnecessary spending. She was asked during a recent forum sponsored by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce if she would try to turn the more ceremonial role of mayor into a full-time job and not take on other work, something that raised ethical concerns for the current mayor, term-limited Francis Suarez.
“I do not have outside employment now. I was a full-time commissioner. I’m going to be a full-time mayor,” Higgins said as the interviewer continued to press her about whether that meant not accepting any outside employment.
In a blunt-talking style, Higgins responded sternly: “All right, do I have to say it more clearly? No! It’s a full-time job.”
While Latino voters nationally have traditionally leaned Democratic, Republicans in Florida have found strong backing among Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan immigrants, who resist socialist inclinations likened to the ones from the governments they fled. Trump tapped into those sentiments in winning Miami-Dade County last year, a turnaround from his 30 percentage point loss there to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Yet some Florida Republicans began sounding the alarm after November’s elections, when Democrats secured wins in nationally watched governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia. Both winning candidates had strong performances with nonwhite voters, and the Democratic winner in the New Jersey race received two-thirds of the Hispanic vote, according to the AP Voter Poll.
Those results were largely seen as a reflection of concerns over rising prices and the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration policies.
U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican whose district includes the city of Miami, called the elections elsewhere a “wake-up call.” Ileana Garcia, a Florida state senator who in 2016 founded the group Latinas for Trump, has said about immigration arrests that “what we are witnessing is inhumane.”
Gonzalez, a former director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under Republican President George W. Bush, said during a debate sponsored by Miami's CBS affiliate that he supported immigration arrests against those who committed crimes. But he demurred when the moderator said most of those arrested had not committed violent offenses: “But this is a federal issue," Gonzalez said. "This is not an issue that has to do with the mayor of Miami.”
Higgins has spoken about Miami’s signing on to a federal program that delegates immigration authority to local police, county sheriffs and state agencies and said she would find legal options to unwind that decision to rebuild trust between residents and law enforcement.
“When we start to enforce whatever shenanigans is coming out of the federal government to just randomly pick people up, we could erode that trust,” she said.
Higgins has received support from Florida Democrats looking to show the party still has a foothold in the formerly swing state.
Some Democrats who could be considering a presidential run in 2028 also are backing her campaign. Buttigieg encouraged voters in a video to make a plan to vote for her, and U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona planned to join her on Sunday for early voting stops.
Many of the local issues at play in the race resonate nationally, including income inequality and one of the nation’s least affordable housing markets.
Gustavo Ascani, a 30-year-old Miami voter, said the city has long-standing problems that need addressing. He said he has not decided whom he will vote for, but said tackling homelessness and traffic is a priority for him.
“Maybe Republicans have overlooked, after having locally been in power for so long, certain issues that are important for the people in Miami,” Ascani said.
Robin Peguero, a former prosecutor who is running for the chance to challenge Salazar for her congressional seat, said voters’ concerns center around affordability, an issue that has become a focal point of both parties after Democrats' wins in New Jersey and Virginia.
That includes the sharp health insurance premium spikes expected to start Jan. 1 after subsidies under the Affordable Care Act expire. The Obama-era health law remains popular in South Florida, and recent polling shows most people who will be affected by the increases blame Trump and Republicans.
“It’s kitchen table issues, whether it’s an election for local officials or whether there is an election for the president,” Peguero said. “It’s a rejection of what is happening in this country.”
Gustavo Ascani, a digital content creator, speaks about the upcoming Miami mayor runoff election, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Former Miami-Dade County Commissioner and candidate for Miami mayor Eileen Higgins, speaks at a Miami Chamber of Commerce event Thursday, Dec. 4, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
FILE - Florida Gov. Rick Scott, right, laughs with Emilio Gonzalez, director and chief executive officer of the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, center, and Jose "Pepe" Diaz, Miami-Dade County commissioner, left, after a news conference at Miami International Airport, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
Former Miami-Dade County Commissioner and candidate for Miami mayor Eileen Higgins, speaks at a Miami Chamber of Commerce event Thursday, Dec. 4, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
