Submitted by Neel Naik on the 2018 winter session program in Barcelona, Spain sponsored by the Horn Program in Entrepreneurship…
In just the first week of being in Barcelona, we got an amazing opportunity to watch an FC Barcelona game at Camp Nou stadium. Historically, the stadium has attracted a lot of political attention, mainly the differences between Catalonia and the rest of Spain. The political attention that the stadium brings in is greater than ever. Since the Catalonian referendum on October 1, 2017, many Catalan politicians have been arrested by the Madrid government. During the game that we attended, many fans carried a banner that read “Llibertad”, signifying that the politicians be freed. The fans held the banners during the game and showed support for the politicians. This came as a huge surprise to me of how unified as well as angered the people of Catalonia are towards the Madrid government. I also asked questions to a fellow fan during the game of how they feel about the situation. I was told by them that police violence and arrests of politicians have made Catalonia lean even more towards gaining independence.