Do people from Cataluyna support Spain?
- Thread starter CFCabbage
- Start date
1875
LEGENDARY RADGE
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2003
None of my Barca supporting friends care much for Spain. This year there is more to look for with half the Barca squad in the Spanish squad. I was take a stab at around 25% of Catalans will actively support Spain.
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2007
maybe it's just who you meet. from what I can tell from the people I've met from Barcelona, they will support Spain although their true interest in football lies with either Espanyol or Barca, internationals being something of a sidenote. You will no doubt have spent more time there than me, I am relying on the people I've met through my mum who lives in Spain and the few visits I've had to Barcelona. I think though that the 25% figure strikes me as a little harsh though, I seem to remember a fourfourtwo or worldfootball article on the subject a while back putting it more in 60% for spain region...
1875
LEGENDARY RADGE
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2003
maybe it's just who you meet. from what I can tell from the people I've met from Barcelona, they will support Spain although their true interest in football lies with either Espanyol or Barca, internationals being something of a sidenote. You will no doubt have spent more time there than me, I am relying on the people I've met through my mum who lives in Spain and the few visits I've had to Barcelona. I think though that the 25% figure strikes me as a little harsh though, I seem to remember a fourfourtwo or worldfootball article on the subject a while back putting it more in 60% for spain region...
The people I mention are all cules (barca fans), the two Espanyol fans I know both support Spain, but then the son of the two see's his support of Espanyol as anti Barca/ anti Catalunya and pro Spain and fits his own psuedo falange perspective on life. Picture Nacho Novo, dressed all in black with a strange haircut and you get my gist.
SPorter
Legendary Radge
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2007
Could vary quite significantly from place to place and also depends a lot on the family background people come from. Naturally, Catalans like anybody else are not a pure race and many people in Barcelona and other big cities have moved there from other parts of Spain since Barcelona has long been an industrial centre in Spain. These people from families of Andalusian, Galician origin etc. are more likely to support Spain than those that come from longstanding Catalan backgrounds. When I lived in Girona I met very few people who supported Spain and the lack of interest during the last World Cup was astounding. That led me to believe there are a lot of people who are Bara "fans" but not really football fans because FC Barcelona is more than a club and is both a symbol and an important part of the Catalan identity.
chris_hfc1
Well-Known Radge
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2005
when i was in ibiza we were on bora bora and got talking to a guy and he said he hated spain and the huns which was nice 
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2002
Have to say I was in Barcelona during Euro 2004 and the complete apathy towards Spain was fairly surprising to me. It wasn't even supporting the opposition, it was just not caring. I was in a tiny tapas place off Las Ramblas which seemed to only have locals in it and there was one older boy watching a Spain game in there and he seemed to be getting treated as if he was a complete weirdo by the rest of the clientele. At half time highlights of another game came on and everyone started paying attention. It was positively odd tbh.
AndyM
Well-Known Radge
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2002
GH will dive in here hopefully but generally this is my take on it..
The Catalans have a devolved government from Spain like the Scottish parliament.
Calling them Spanish is like calling a Scotsman British. The natives in Barcelona will speak both Castillian Spanish and Catalan. Both languages are used in business and leisure and nobody will take any offence if you speak Spanish especially as a tourist.
Football wise - Their players play for Spain but the fans in my experience are generally apathetic towards the national team. In a world cup some Cules will look out for Argentina as Buenos Aires is sometimes called the biggest Catalan city outside of Barcelona and in times past they used to be much much more hostile. Most won't give a shit and will be thinking about FCB.
I was in Barcelona during the last Euros and watched some games in the pubs with some Barca fans I am friendly with. The Barca fans watching Spain were not hostile but they were not really actively supporting either. They wanted their players to play well and to avoid injury, they also were highly impressed with David Villa then of Valencia whom they all wanted Barcelona to sign! They were grudging in their praise of Casillias - Real Madrid's brilliant goalkeeper (old habits die hard!) and respectful of Fernando Torres as he is an Atleti (another mob who hate Real Madrid).
2 minutes after the Spain game finished they were talking about Barca and after the final a few folk celebrated but it was pretty muted. No fireworks or street parades like in Madrid.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2005
Like the UK, Spain came about after the union of several smaller countries most of which happened in 15th century (although I think Galicia only joined with Spain in 19th century)
These countries were principally, Castille (the 'England' of Spain), Leon, Granada, Navarre & the Crown of Aragon (which in turn was a union of Catalonia, Valencia & Aragon).
So there are big regional differences in Spain, roughly along the lines of the old kingdoms and people (in varying degrees) are proud of their independent cultural heritage and languages.