> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://penida.gitbook.io/cowlendar-help/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://penida.gitbook.io/cowlendar-help/access-issues-with-cowlendar-in-spain-during-laliga-matches.md). # Access issues with Cowlendar in Spain during LaLiga matches ### What is happening At certain times — especially **during LaLiga football matches**, typically on weekends — some users in Spain may experience **temporary access issues with Cowlendar**. We want to be very clear from the start:\ **This is not a Cowlendar outage or an internal technical failure.** The issue is caused by **internet blocking measures applied in Spain** as part of an anti-piracy strategy promoted by **LaLiga**, enforced by internet service providers and **supported by court rulings**. Due to **poor technical implementation**, these measures have resulted in **overblocking**, affecting legitimate services unrelated to football. **Sources:** * El País — Jordi Pérez Colomé — 19/02/2025\ [https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2025-02-19/cloudflare-lleva-a-los-tribunales-a-laliga-para-evitar-mas-bloqueos-indiscriminados-de-paginas-web.html](https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2025-02-19/cloudflare-lleva-a-los-tribunales-a-laliga-para-evitar-mas-bloqueos-indiscriminados-de-paginas-web.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com) * El País — Jordi Pérez Colomé — 15/02/2025\ [https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2025-02-15/moscas-a-canonazos-la-lucha-contra-la-pirateria-en-el-futbol-tumba-miles-de-webs-legitimas.html](https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2025-02-15/moscas-a-canonazos-la-lucha-contra-la-pirateria-en-el-futbol-tumba-miles-de-webs-legitimas.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com) *** ### Quick context: what is Cloudflare and why it matters **Cloudflare** is a global web infrastructure provider that helps websites and applications run **faster, more reliably, and more securely**. It provides protection against cyberattacks (such as DDoS attacks), improves performance, and enables secure encrypted connections. The key issue here is that **Cloudflare hosts many websites on shared infrastructure**, including **shared IP addresses**.\ When LaLiga orders the blocking of one of these IPs, **thousands of unrelated, legitimate websites and apps can be taken offline at the same time**. According to Spanish media, **around 160,000 websites in Spain use Cloudflare**, which explains the scale of the impact. **Source:** * El País — Jordi Pérez Colomé — 19/02/2025\ [https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2025-02-19/cloudflare-lleva-a-los-tribunales-a-laliga-para-evitar-mas-bloqueos-indiscriminados-de-paginas-web.html](https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2025-02-19/cloudflare-lleva-a-los-tribunales-a-laliga-para-evitar-mas-bloqueos-indiscriminados-de-paginas-web.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com) *** ### Why LaLiga and the Spanish authorities are affecting legitimate services Since **February 2025**, LaLiga has been enforcing **weekly internet blocks** aimed at stopping illegal football streaming. Multiple Spanish newspapers have documented that these blocks are **not sufficiently precise** and are applied at **IP level**, despite the fact that IPs are shared by many lawful services. Spanish media have also reported that the **Spanish government has chosen not to intervene**, publicly stating that it “respects judicial decisions,” even after evidence emerged that businesses and users were being harmed. **Sources:** * El País — Jordi Pérez Colomé — 13/05/2025\ [https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2025-05-13/desde-x-a-una-app-de-padel-los-bloqueos-semanales-de-laliga-en-internet-ya-provocan-quejas-sobre-derechos-fundamentales-en-espana.html](https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2025-05-13/desde-x-a-una-app-de-padel-los-bloqueos-semanales-de-laliga-en-internet-ya-provocan-quejas-sobre-derechos-fundamentales-en-espana.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com) * Cinco Días — J.V. — 29/05/2025\ [https://cincodias.elpais.com/legal/2025-05-29/asociaciones-de-internautas-denuncian-ante-el-defensor-del-pueblo-los-bloqueos-web-de-laliga.html](https://cincodias.elpais.com/legal/2025-05-29/asociaciones-de-internautas-denuncian-ante-el-defensor-del-pueblo-los-bloqueos-web-de-laliga.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com) *** ### Public evidence of overblocking (legitimate services taken offline) Spanish newspapers have published multiple examples showing that the blocking strategy has caused **collateral damage**: * *La Vanguardia* reported that, alongside a piracy-related block, **around 3,300 legitimate websites became inaccessible**, due to shared IP addresses:\ [https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20250214/10384058/bloqueo-futbol-pirata-internet-afecta-paginas-legitimas.html](https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20250214/10384058/bloqueo-futbol-pirata-internet-afecta-paginas-legitimas.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com) * *El País* documented that well-known services such as **X (Twitter), Redsys, and Steam** were affected, confirming the cause was **LaLiga’s weekly blocks**, not service outages:\ [https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2025-02-15/moscas-a-canonazos-la-lucha-contra-la-pirateria-en-el-futbol-tumba-miles-de-webs-legitimas.html](https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2025-02-15/moscas-a-canonazos-la-lucha-contra-la-pirateria-en-el-futbol-tumba-miles-de-webs-legitimas.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com) * *Cinco Días* reported that user associations filed a complaint with the **Spanish Ombudsman**, describing the blocks as **“massive and arbitrary”** and affecting **fully legal services**:\ [https://cincodias.elpais.com/legal/2025-05-29/asociaciones-de-internautas-denuncian-ante-el-defensor-del-pueblo-los-bloqueos-web-de-laliga.html](https://cincodias.elpais.com/legal/2025-05-29/asociaciones-de-internautas-denuncian-ante-el-defensor-del-pueblo-los-bloqueos-web-de-laliga.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com) *** ### What Cloudflare is doing to address the issue #### Legal action against LaLiga Cloudflare has **taken LaLiga to court in Spain**, seeking to overturn the legal framework that allows these blocking practices. Cloudflare argues that LaLiga **failed to disclose the foreseeable harm to third parties**, and that the measures are **disproportionate** and threaten an **open internet**. **Source:** * El País — Jordi Pérez Colomé — 19/02/2025\ [https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2025-02-19/cloudflare-lleva-a-los-tribunales-a-laliga-para-evitar-mas-bloqueos-indiscriminados-de-paginas-web.html](https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2025-02-19/cloudflare-lleva-a-los-tribunales-a-laliga-para-evitar-mas-bloqueos-indiscriminados-de-paginas-web.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com) *** #### Escalation to Spain’s Constitutional Court The conflict has also reached the **Spanish Constitutional Court** via a constitutional appeal filed by RootedCON, citing that pirate sites are blocked **while legitimate websites are also made inaccessible** due to shared infrastructure. **Source:** * La Vanguardia — Francesc Bracero — 16/05/2025\ [https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20250516/10690265/conflicto-bloqueos-laliga-webs-partidos-llega-constitucional.html](https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20250516/10690265/conflicto-bloqueos-laliga-webs-partidos-llega-constitucional.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com) *** #### Collection of evidence from affected customers Cloudflare is actively **collecting reports from legitimate customers** affected by these blocks to use as evidence in ongoing and future legal actions. Official Cloudflare statement:\ *** ### What you can do in the meantime (temporary workarounds) While these blocks continue, the following options may help: * Use a **VPN** connected to a country outside Spain * **Switch networks**, such as using mobile data * **Retry later**, as blocks usually coincide with match times and are lifted afterward VPN usage as a workaround is explicitly mentioned by Spanish media: * La Vanguardia — 14/02/2025\ [https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20250214/10384058/bloqueo-futbol-pirata-internet-afecta-paginas-legitimas.html](https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20250214/10384058/bloqueo-futbol-pirata-internet-afecta-paginas-legitimas.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com) *** ### Our commitment at Cowlendar We understand how disruptive it is when a work tool suddenly becomes unavailable. To summarize: * **Cowlendar is not experiencing an internal outage** * The issue is caused by **external internet blocks** related to poorly implemented anti-piracy measures during LaLiga matches ✅ **Cowlendar is actively cooperating with Cloudflare**, reporting real incidents and providing technical evidence, with the goal of helping resolve this situation as quickly as possible and supporting efforts to stop indiscriminate blocking that affects legitimate services.