El Clasico with political overtones

The gigantic mosaic in the colours of the Catalan flag ‘La Senyera’ spread around Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium amid the deafening din as the Real Madrid players took to the pitch was a clear statement from the fans that there is more at stake than just a football match.
Although a vital league game between Spain’s top two clubs, the El Clasico has for good or bad a fierce political tradition between the centralism of Madrid and the rights of the autonomous region of Catalonia as was shown with one banner which read: “Freedom for Catalonia.”
Calls for greater rights and independence have been claimed since the death of the Spanish dictator Franco in 1975 who suppressed the Catalan language and culture but recently it has come to a head with the financial problems facing the country and the feeling that Catalonia is funding the poor areas of the country especially in the south, while they are in crisis themselves.
“Real Madrid face a Camp Nou where the atmosphere will be exceptional and the stimulation will not only be sporting but also social and political,” read Catalan daily La Vanguardia on Sunday. “The dream of barcelonismo is to leave their opponent eleven points behind but also that catalanismo demonstrates it is motivated to show its identity.”
It is not the first time that sentiments like that have been made by fans and more extreme political pundits but the difference this year is that it is an opinion expressed by a large section of the middle ground.
“We are fed up with being dictated to from Madrid and discriminated against. We want the right to decide for ourselves whether to stay in Spain or be independent,” said one fan, Jordi, on the way to the stadium.
An estimated 1.5m people took to the streets of Barcelona in a nationalist march held on September 11 this year, the Catalan national day. The date symbolises the fall of Barcelona in 1714 during the Wars of Succession against Spain, and where Catalonia was brought under a centralised state governed from Madrid.
The level of local autonomy has fluctuated since and obviously hitting a low point under Franco while FC Barcelona, formed in 1899, gradually became intertwined with the local culture and aligned with this cause. For many Catalans it is the equivalent of a national team.
Under the presidency of Joan Laporta, who won the 2003 elections, the club became its most politicised with Laporta continually making political statements and on standing down in 2010 he set up his own political party calling for independence.
“Barca is the national team of Catalonia and my objective as president was to promote our interests and fight for our rights. With the problems that Catalonia has, the solution is to allow us to take our own decisions and create better lives for ourselves,” he said.
“The present structure isn’t working and so we want to see Catalonia as an independent state in Europe.”
The current president Sandro Rosell is more of an integrator, seeking to bring together people of different opinions but he has been swamped by the strength of public feeling and says that the club will reflect the mood of the people.
Former coach Pep Guardiola sent a message of support for independence from his current home in New York on September 11th but the current trainer Tito Vilanova has tried to concentrate on football ahead of what is the most politicised el clasico yet.
“There are always Catalan flags and mosaics a lot of the time and this is all part of football. If you want to talk about politics then there are other places for that,” he said.
The people though are likely to do otherwise.