Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has called on the Spanish authorities to learn from England after the tragic death of a football fan in violence before Atletico Madrid's match against Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday.
Depor supporter Francisco Javier Romero Taboada, 43, was beaten up and thrown into the nearby Manzanares river during violent scenes. After being rescued he was taken to Madrid's Clinico San Carlos but died as a result of cardiac arrest, hypothermia and head injuries.
Eleven other people were injured in the violence, including a police officer who suffered a broken hand, and 24 arrests were made while police passed a further 100 names of those involved to their respective clubs.
Ultras, known for their extreme views and violence, from Deportivo (Riazor Blues), Rayo Vallecano (Frente Atletico and Bukaneros) and Alcorcon (Alkor Hooligans) were said to have been involved in the battles, organised over social media platform WhatsApp, with Atletico's Frente Atletico.
Barcelona and Real Madrid have long since banned such groups from their stadiums but other clubs, including Atletico, still welcome them into their stadium and give them their own areas.
Ancelotti, quoted by Spanish sports daily AS, said: "I experienced this in Italy. It's a sad day. Everybody who works in football hopes that this never happens. It's important to condemn all this, the violence around football. It's clear that the whole footballing world has to work to prevent this in the future.
"I have experience in England and I think they have done many things and done very well to eliminate this scourge. They had a terrible experience with hooligans, they did an incredible job in dealing with the problems. In Spain they have to do the same to get rid of this plague.
"In England there's not violence in the stadiums, there's not police around the stadium before the game, there are kids at the games.
"In England I never received an insult. Here, around 15-20 days ago, a guy was insulting me throughout the game from behind the bench. It's a question of culture as well, we are Latin. About the culture, I speak as an Italian, not as a Spaniard, and I think we can improve a lot.
"We all have to condemn violence, a bottle on the pitch or whatever, it's violence. We can all do something. We're not happy, we're sad. We have to clean things up no matter what."
The Spanish press also reacted strongly to the behaviour of the ultras, and called on all clubs to ban them from their grounds.
Alfredo Relano, in AS, said: "The ultras are not needed to create atmosphere or to win games and even if they were, the price is too high.
"The Calderon crowd experienced a strange game yesterday, a match that should have been a celebration quickly transformed into a repulsion tinged with collective culpability. When ultra group, Frente Atlético tried to start their chants the rest of the supporters told them to shut up."
Jose Samano wrote in daily El Pais: "Football has wanted to look the other way for a long time now when faced with the cancer of the ultras. Their violence does not have its roots in football but it is in football where they have found refuge and approval."
Marca wrote in an editorial on Monday: "Spanish football must expel these brutes before it is too late."
In El Mundo, Manuel Jabois added: "The presence of violent groups in stadiums has a Freudian element that explains a lot of things in Spain. It has to do with a generalised cowardice when it comes to ridding yourself of something undesirable who loves you or wants the same as you."
There will be a meeting of the Spanish government's anti-violence commission on Monday.