Homage To Catalonia: Joan Laporta and independence

Think what you like about the Premier League's overblown self-importance, one thing it hasn't done is to stray too far into the world of politics. With the exception of old Red Nose brown-nosing New Labour, it has happened the other way round - Tony Blair masquerading as a member of the Toon Army and David Mellor giving the then soon to start League pre-publicity by donning his Chelsea shirt to conceal the absence of his shorts. Populist politico-soccerism has mainly been the preserve of the charming and ever-humorous Silvio Berlusconi. But there is always Joan Laporta.

The former president of Barcelona now fancies himself as the Lionel Messi of Catalan pretensions, striking the goal for independence. Not that his being Messi would get him very far as the player is of course Argentinian. Never mind, Barça can always call on Xavi, Puyol, Busquets, Valdés, Krkic and Piqué as being the real Catalonian thing. And they are; they were all in the squad the last time Catalonia played an international.

Laporta, on the back of his stint as the club's president, has formed a political party - Catalan Solidarity for Independence - which will take part in upcoming regional government elections. Having added a porn star (shades of Italian politics here as well) to his strike force, Laporta is trusting in a wave of discontent in Catalonia to catapult him into stellar political orbit. It's unlikely to happen, but the discontent is real enough, much of it stemming from a constitutional ruling in July that Catalonia cannot be a "nation" and thus cannot be self-governing.

Laporta was unashamedly Catalanist during his time as president. He styled Barcelona as a surrogate Catalonian national team and in so doing made it symbolic of Catalonian nationalism and a desire for independence. This overlooked the fact that Catalonia does have a team, albeit one unrecognised by UEFA or FIFA and therefore confined to the playing of friendlies (as is the case with all the autonomous regions of Spain which have their own football teams, including the Balearics), but did not neglect the fact that historically Barça has long been representative of Catalonia. The club's slogan "més que un club" (more than a club) encapsulates this, and it is one that dates back to Franco's days - to 1968 to be precise - but has its roots in a time well before this.

Laporta clearly understands his history and the importance of Barça to Catalonian ambitions. And he is using his association with the club, and therefore the fame he derived from being its president, to fuel his own ambitions. Like Berlusconi, however, he is not a million miles away from the hint of scandal. He denies anything untoward, naturally enough, but the current president is keen to establish quite how Barça's finances came to be as shaky as they are.

Whether Laporta can be taken seriously will be answered come the elections. But what has to be taken seriously is the question that simply won't go away - that of Catalonian independence. A mark of quite how unsettling this could be occurred in January 2006 when an army general, José Mena, was placed under house arrest for suggesting that there would be military intervention were Catalonia to be granted ever greater autonomy.

In Mallorca, an indication of attitudes to the Catalonian question came in response to the constitutional ruling. While there was political support for self-government across the spectrum, with the notable exception of the Partido Popular (PP), a demonstration in Palma opposing the ruling attracted a mere 300 protesters. Popular support for Catalonia extends to the Barcelona football team, but not to an independent Catalonia. Despite the linguistic connection, historical Catalonian radicalism runs counter to a Mallorcan conservatism. And this is no better seen than in the stance of the PP's local leader, José Ramón Bauzá. His objections to the use of Catalan do not exclude the islands' Catalan variants; quite the opposite. What he does take exception to is what he has called the "imposition" of Catalan from Catalonia. In other words he, and this would not be an unpopular sentiment in Mallorca as a whole, is allied firmly with Madrid (and the Spanish state) and not with Barcelona.

We have to see what happens with Laporta's campaign and in the Catalonian elections. The prediction is that the centrist Convergència i Unió will win. While this party is equivocal on nationalism and so might quieten the independence issue for now, the issue will re-emerge, and the next national elections could prove crucial. It has been claimed that the constitutional ruling against self-government was politically inspired by the PP nationally which opposes Catalonian aspirations. This contrasts with a Zapatero government which has been accused of bending too easily to Catalonian demands, such as in granting extended local powers in 2006.

The Catalonian question will not go away. Maybe one day there will be an independent state. But for many Mallorcans and indeed Spaniards, the most important issue will not be political. It will have to do with football. An officially recognised Catalonia with a core of Barcelona players might take some stopping, bringing an end to Spain's European and world domination. And who knows, maybe President Laporta will be there to cheer as team manager Carles Puyol raises the cup. For Catalonia.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.