The pro-independence politicians who want Spain to win the World Cup

BarcelonaThe World Cup final between Spain and Argentina this Sunday has highlighted the different stances within the independence movement regarding support for the Spanish national football team, a debate that already occurred during Euro 2024. But the insistence with which some of its leaders have come out in recent days with open shows of support for la roja has reopened a debate that the sovereignty movement has never fully resolved: what to do when Spain wins?

Rufián: "Let Spain win, I'm not ashamed"

Xavier Trias (Junts), former mayor of Barcelona, did not hesitate when journalist Gemma Nierga asked him on Cafè d'Idees if he supported the Spanish national team: he admitted that he was with Spain: "Yes, if they are all mine," justified the former mayor of Barcelona.

Along the same lines, Gabriel Rufián (ERC) was crystal clear from the corridors of Congress: "May Spain win, I'm not hiding it." And he justified himself by adding that "there are eight Catalan players [in fact, there are nine]." The president of Barça – former deputy and former councilor – Joan Laporta, traveled to Dallas expressly to "support the Spanish national team." A video published by the Royal Spanish Football Federation also went viral, in which during an event Laporta appeared applauding a "Viva España" by Iker Casillas before the semi-final against France.

Those who claim their own national teams

On the other hand, Miriam Nogueras (Junts) has been emphatic: "I don't go with Spain", she tweeted in response to a post fromEl matí de Catalunya Ràdio, in which she had clearly stated: "Catalans have every right in the world to have a national team, but the Spanish state doesn't let us play". When consulted by ARA, the leader of Aliança Catalana, Sílvia Orriols, also refuses to support the Spanish national team.

In contrast to what Rufián expressed in Madrid, the ERC deputy Francesc Marc Álvaro tweeted that celebrating the red one as if it were merely "sentimental" is "an own goal" for independence, as it responds to the same "logic of symbolic monopoly" that hinders the existence of teams like the Catalan or Basque ones. For his part, the president of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, dodged the question at an event in Madrid: "Surely Barça will win".

On the other hand, in the home of the general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, there doesn't seem to be much interest in the red one. On Els matins on TV3, Turull replied that he goes "with the Catalan team" and that he doesn't even think he will watch the World Cup final. The president of the Parliament, Josep Rull (Junts), also recalled that he "goes with the Catalan teams".

The debate is not limited to Catalonia. This weekend, EH Bildu has called on the citizens of Euskadi to take to the streets wearing Basque national team t-shirts and to demand their participation in international competitions. The lehendakari, Imanol Pradales, also recently expressed on RTVE that he is "from the Basque national team, period" and explained that he would like Spain to play at the San Mamés stadium: "Against Euskadi, yes, of course".

The screen war

Beyond the footballing colors of the pro-independence politicians, there has also been controversy over the location of some giant screens to watch the World Cup final. In Sant Andreu de la Barca, governed by ERC, the mayor Marc Giribet has announced a free screen activated only if the Spanish team plays, a controversial decision because three months ago the same ERC had asked Barcelona not to install any following the racist incidents at the RCDE Stadium during the match between Spain and Egypt when "Muslim is he who does not vote" was shouted. The same formula will be repeated in Manresa, also in the hands of ERC, while Junts will do the same in the town halls it governs in Vilaseca and Martorell.

In this context, the former president of the Parliament and the ANC, Carme Forcadell, has recently lamented that the Sabadell City Council – governed by the PSC – is putting up giant screens to watch Spain and did not put up any when CE Sabadell moved up a category, and has denounced that the council "values the Spanish team more than the club that bears the city's name." And precisely in Sabadell, the pro-independence coalition Acció per Sabadell (Junts, Gent de Sabadell, Identitat Sabadellenca and MesCat) criticized the socialist government's screen for its "Hispanizing" intent, and called for the normalization of Catalan teams.