Last updated: September 27, 2026
It's Saturday evening in Spain. A match kicks off, and suddenly your online store won't load, a game can't reach its server, a work tool times out, or a site you use every day shows a connection error. An hour and a half later, everything works again.
That's not a coincidence or an outage. Since February 2025, Spanish internet providers have been blocking IP addresses during LaLiga matches to cut off pirate football streams, and those same addresses are shared by hundreds of thousands of legitimate websites. Here's what's happening, how to confirm it's the cause, and what you can legally do about it.
What's happening in Spain on match days
LaLiga, the body that runs Spain's top football divisions, says pirate streams cost Spanish clubs an estimated €600 million to €700 million a year. Many of those streams are delivered through content delivery networks (CDNs) like Cloudflare, which sit in front of millions of websites and hide their real servers.
On December 18, 2024, a commercial court in Barcelona (Commercial Court No. 6, according to LaLiga) ruled in favor of LaLiga and its broadcasting partner Telefónica Audiovisual Digital. The ruling lets them ask Spanish internet providers to block IP addresses used by pirate streams while matches are being broadcast. LaLiga reported in March 2025 that the court had dismissed annulment requests from Cloudflare and the security association RootedCON.
The first blocks were reported in February 2025. They now happen on every matchday. According to reporting cited by VPNCompare, more than 550 IP addresses are blocked on a typical matchday, and the current order runs until June 20, 2027, the last day of the 2026/27 season.
Why unrelated websites go down
The problem is how the modern web is built. A CDN like Cloudflare serves thousands of different websites from the same IP address. When a provider blocks one of those addresses to stop a pirate stream, every other site that happens to share it becomes unreachable too.
OONI's June 2026 report put numbers on it:
All figures are from OONI except Cloudflare's share, which comes from Euronews reporting on the same data, as summarized by VPNCompare.
The affected sites OONI lists include human rights organizations, environmental groups, government sites in other countries, news outlets, messaging apps, and universities including Harvard. Hosting platform Vercel has also described its infrastructure being hit, alongside GitHub Pages and BunnyCDN.
For everyday users in Spain, reported casualties include online stores, games, forums, developer tools like Docker image downloads, and smart home dashboards running through Cloudflare Tunnels.
Which providers block, and when
OONI's data shows the blocks follow the match schedule closely on most networks: they start shortly before kick-off and are lifted soon after the match ends. It observed blocking on these networks:
Enforcement varies. Some operators block on almost every match, others more irregularly. OONI also recorded TLS interception (a "man-in-the-middle" setup) on Digi Mobil, affecting more than 7,000 IP addresses. Spanish tech media and users have reported cases where blocks stayed on after a match ended, likely due to operator errors.
When customers complain, operators can't do much. Movistar support told one affected developer that it could not make individual exceptions, according to NeoTeo.
How to tell if a LaLiga block is your problem
Before changing anything, check whether this is actually the cause:
- Check the timing. Is a LaLiga match being played right now, or did one just end? Blocks line up with broadcast windows.
- Check the live monitor. ¿Hay ahora fútbol? tracks how many IP addresses are blocked in Spain in real time and lets you check whether a specific website is affected.
- Try mobile data from a different carrier. Enforcement differs between providers. If the site loads on another network, your provider is blocking it.
- Look at the type of error. In a typical case, the domain name still resolves normally, but the connection times out. That's the signature of an IP block, not a DNS or server problem.
- Try a connection from outside Spain. If the site loads immediately through a server in France or Portugal, the problem is the route through Spain, not the website.
Why changing DNS doesn't fix it
A common first fix for blocked sites is switching to a public DNS resolver like 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8. It doesn't work here.
LaLiga's blocks target IP addresses, not domain names. Your device can look up the correct address using any DNS server, but when it tries to connect, the Spanish network drops the traffic. In one documented test from a Vodafone connection in Zaragoza on September 5, 2026, the game Kuiper's address resolved correctly through the operator's resolver, 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8, yet the connection to the Cloudflare IP timed out after 20 seconds. The same request routed through a server in Germany succeeded in 0.2 seconds.
The fix has to change the route your traffic takes, not the lookup.
5 legal ways to get back online during a match
1. Wait it out
Blocks usually lift soon after the match ends. If what you need can wait 90 minutes, this is the simplest option.
2. Switch to a different network
Enforcement varies by operator. Mobile data from a different carrier than your home broadband, or a friend's hotspot, may reach the site normally.
3. Use a VPN server outside Spain
A VPN sends your traffic through an encrypted tunnel to a server in another country, and the connection to the website starts from there. Your Spanish provider only sees an encrypted connection to the VPN server, so its IP block list doesn't apply to the sites you visit.
Two practical tips:
- Pick a nearby server outside Spain, such as France or Portugal, for low latency. A server inside Spain may run into the same blocks.
- Use a fast protocol. WireGuard adds the least overhead. If your network blocks it, OpenVPN over TCP 443 is the fallback. Our guide to WireGuard vs OpenVPN explains the difference.
4. Route only the affected sites through the VPN
If you don't want everything going through a VPN, split tunneling lets you choose which apps or traffic use the tunnel. Advanced users go further: one developer in Spain set up a MikroTik router to send only Cloudflare traffic through a VPN, and only while the live monitor shows an active block.
5. If you run the affected website
If your own site or app is going down on match days:
- Monitor the blocks with ¿Hay ahora fútbol?, which lets you check your own domain.
- Add a fallback route. The Kuiper game's developer added a small reverse proxy in Germany that the app switches to when the direct Cloudflare route times out.
- Talk to your CDN about options that avoid heavily shared IP ranges.
- Keep records. Timestamps, error logs and lost sales are the kind of evidence Spanish courts said was missing when they dismissed earlier challenges.
Is it legal to use a VPN in Spain?
Yes. Using a VPN is legal in Spain and across the EU, and reaching legitimate websites that are caught up in a block is not a copyright violation.
What's not legal is watching pirated streams, with or without a VPN, and LaLiga has been expanding enforcement to cover VPNs used for that. In February 2026, according to OONI, LaLiga and Telefónica obtained orders from a commercial court in Córdoba requiring two large VPN providers to block 16 pirate streaming sites for users connecting from Spain. In France, LaLiga took Cloudflare to court asking for blocks that would include Cloudflare's own WARP VPN. On March 18, 2026, a Paris court ruled LaLiga itself had no standing to bring the case, but ordered Cloudflare to block the same 35 sites across its DNS, CDN and WARP services at the request of LaLiga's French broadcaster, beIN Sports France.
This guide is about getting to the legitimate sites you actually use. For anything legal-specific, check with a lawyer.
Is anyone challenging the blocks?
Yes. Cloudflare filed an appeal with Spain's Constitutional Court on May 19, 2025, as TechRadar reported, arguing that the court had been told there would be no collateral effect. RootedCON and other affected users also filed a constitutional appeal. Digital rights groups have called IP-level blocking of shared infrastructure disproportionate, and the European ISP association EuroISPA asked the European Commission in June 2026 to make rightsholders liable for the collateral damage.
LaLiga's position is that the blocks are dynamic, targeted and necessary to protect clubs from piracy losses. Until a higher court rules otherwise, the blocks are expected to continue every matchday through the end of the season.
Using Atomic VPN in Spain
Atomic VPN has servers in 88+ countries, including France and Portugal right across the border, so your connection keeps a short route while exiting outside the Spanish block lists.
- WireGuard by default for low overhead: about 890 Mbps on a 1 Gbps line and 0.2-second reconnects.
- OpenVPN over TCP 443 for networks that block other VPN traffic.
- DNS inside the tunnel, so your lookups don't leak to your provider. Check it with a DNS leak test.
- No activity logs. RAM-only servers and an independently audited no-log policy.
- Router setup covers every device in your home without using a device slot.
- $2 a month on the yearly plan, 5 devices. Split tunneling is coming soon.
Apps for Windows and macOS are available now. iOS and Android apps are on the way. New to VPNs? See how to set up a VPN on any device, and our unblock guide for other kinds of blocks.
FAQ
Why do websites stop working in Spain during football matches?
Spanish internet providers block IP addresses linked to pirate LaLiga streams during matches. Many of those IPs are shared with legitimate websites through Cloudflare and other CDNs, so those sites become unreachable too.
Why is Cloudflare down in Spain on weekends?
Cloudflare itself isn't down. Spanish providers block some Cloudflare IP addresses during LaLiga broadcasts, and Euronews found Cloudflare accounted for about 90% of the domains affected in the first half of 2026.
How do I know if a site is blocked by LaLiga?
Check if a match is on, look up the site on ¿Hay ahora fútbol?, and try another network or a server outside Spain. If the domain resolves but the connection times out only during the match, it's almost certainly the block.
Does changing DNS fix LaLiga blocks?
No. The blocks target IP addresses, not domain names, so a different DNS server returns the same blocked address.
Does a VPN fix LaLiga blocks?
Usually, yes. With a VPN server outside Spain, your connection to the website starts from that country, so the Spanish block doesn't apply. Choose a nearby country like France or Portugal.
Is it legal to use a VPN in Spain?
Yes. VPNs are legal in Spain. Using one to reach legitimate websites is fine, while watching pirated streams is illegal regardless of the tool.
How long do the blocks last?
On most networks, from shortly before kick-off until soon after the match ends. Some users have reported blocks lingering after matches.
Which internet providers block sites during LaLiga matches?
OONI observed blocking on Telefónica/Movistar, Vodafone, Orange, MasOrange, MásMóvil, Euskaltel and Digi Mobil, with different levels of consistency.
Until when will the blocks continue?
The current court order runs until June 20, 2027, the end of the 2026/27 season, unless a higher court rules otherwise.
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