Fuel for the Burning Fire: How the Rivalry between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid Fans the Flames of Catalan Independence

Foreword

I wrote this two years ago for my Senior Independent Project. A lot has changed, a lot has stayed the same. As the topic of Catalan independence continues to dominate the headlines, I think it's appropriate to publish this project, a project that I spent months toiling over, and that still holds relevance to this day.

In Barcelona, there are street signs guiding drivers to the Balearic Islands, to France, and even to Algeria (a continent away), but no street signs to Madrid, the nation’s capital. In Madrid, however, there are street signs guiding drivers to Barcelona. Why is this? To the average tourist, Madrid is a bustling metropolis on the banks of the Manzanares River, but to people in Barcelona -- the Catalans -- Madrid is an iniquitous inferno on the banks of the Styx River. (Madrid Se Mueve Para Madrid, 2015).

The hostility that Catalans feel toward the Castilians--who live in Madrid--is evident in various aspects of daily life, but is most evident in sport – and in particular, in the rivalry between soccer powerhouses FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Supporters of Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (Madridistas), which is based in the nation’s capital and seat of power, view supporters of Fútbol Club Barcelona (Culés) as anti-Spanish, and are vigorously opposed to the idea of Catalan secession ("El Clasico - the Origins," 2013). In contrast, FC Barcelona supporters fervently support secession. While Castilian and Catalan politicians debate the issue of Catalan secession on a daily basis, this heated political issue is manifest in the rivalry between the two soccer powerhouses, and the climax of this burning factionalism is most evident during an event known as “El Clásico,” when twice a year the two soccer superclubs do battle on the soccer pitch. At each Clásico, spectators witness a passion forged by centuries of rising nationalistic identities, a civil war, and the growing, present-day rift that exists in its wake. To put the FC Barcelona/Real Madrid rivalry in context, imagine a heated American sports rivalry combined with an intense political dispute. Consider, for example, if the Washington Redskins were based in an actual Native American reservation and sought independence from a government whose capital was the home of its bitter sports rival -- the Dallas Cowboys – and then add a thousand years of history and an ongoing fight for independence to that scenario. That thought experiment gives one a sense of the intensity of the Barça-Madrid divide.