Spanish police in Madrid have seized a number of esteledas off Barcelona supporters as they made their way into the Vicente Calderon to attend the final of the Copa del Rey vs. the Basque outfit Alaves.
Estelda is the unofficial flag typically flown by seperatists who advocate the notion of a Catalonian ‘nation’ seperate from Spain, and Sport reports that several Barca supporters were asked to hand over their flags before the game by National Police who had been stationed as part of the first cordon of security access to the stadium
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It didn’t go well with the fans, naturally, who feel it is a repressive action for idealogical issues that have nothing to do with security – and they may well have a point. While security across Europe has been tightened post the terrors inflicted upon the Manchester Arena during an Arianne Grande concert (the UEFA Champions League final in Cardiff, Wales, for example will be played under a closed roof due to heightened security concerns).
This, however, does not seem to have much to do with security threats. Not to say this is without precedent – during the last Copa Del Rey final between Barcelona and Sevilla thousands of fans waved esteldas and shouted slogans for independence during the rendition of the Spanish national anthem. Post this, the Spanish Government had banned the bringing of Esteldas to stadiums only for the Supreme Court to overule the same.
Aware of all this, a group of lawyers this week had sent a request to the Ministry of Interior, the delegation of the government in Madrid and the Spanish Federation with which they hoped to avoid any such incidents from occurring.
A number of fans, though, circumvented this by carrying in Barca flags that had the catalan colurs of red and yellow alongside the blue and red of their beloved club and the rendition of the Spanish anthem was greeted with great vigour and loud noises – their opponents being Basques added to the intense atmosphere.
This incident will only serve to intensify sentiments in Catalunya which are leading to increased calls for a referendum of independence and this may not be the last we hear of the incident, either. With Barcelona and Real Madrid such integral parts of the global footballing stage, the impact on the world of football cannot be underestimated in the slightest
You can follow the match, live, right here: Barcelona vs Alaves LIVE
