It all began this past weekend when Spanish internet companies began blocking a bunch of websites using Cloudfare, a major internet domain provider, in an attempt to keep people from watching football (or soccer) games on ostensibly Cloudfare-hosted websites hosting illegal streams.
People in Spain responded by making a rush for Proton VPN, my favorite free VPN service and, I should compliment the Spanish, an excellent choice among free VPNs. It wasn’t just those looking to illegally stream soccer matches who got caught up in the mess, though. It also snagged a bunch of legitimate websites, too.
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Spain loves the best free vpn, too
“On October 18, we detected an increase in free VPN signups in Spain, which peaked at 200% on October 19,” Proton wrote in an October 22 blog post.
“After some investigating, we discovered that Spanish internet service providers (ISPs) were once again blocking many Cloudflare IP addresses throughout the country as part of an effort to prevent illegal streaming of La Liga football.
“This overreaching block prevented many Spaniards from accessing legitimate streaming services, gaming servers (particularly the new MMORPG Blue Protocol), and large portions of the internet.”
Cloudflare is being blocked across Spain, leaving many unable to access game servers (i.e. Blue Protocol), streaming services, and many other parts of the internet.
The following graph shows a brief 200% spike in free Proton VPN signups originating in Spain as a result. pic.twitter.com/wN6MG2o4YW
— Proton VPN (@ProtonVPN) October 22, 2025
I go into all sorts of reasons why Proton VPN is my favorite free VPN right here. It’s trustworthy, transparent, stable, quick enough (for a free VPN), and not packed full of malware like so many other free VPNs.
It’s based in Switzerland, which isn’t a member of the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and 14 Eyes international surveillance alliances.
Proton doesn’t log user information, and it regularly opens itself up to audit and inspection by third-party auditors to verify that Proton is being truthful and trustworthy in its claims of customer privacy. You can read the results of Proton VPN’s independent audit for yourself.
If only it were available in Spanish.
Proton VPN (opens in a new window)
Available at Proton VPN (Free)
Buy Now (opens in a new window)
Available at Proton VPN (Paid)
Buy Now (opens in a new window)
The post Spanish Football Fans Are Driving a Surge in Downloads of My Favorite Free VPN appeared first on VICE.
