Spain Keeps 3 Catalan Players After Estelada Flag Row Before Belgium Quarter-Final
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jul 10
Spain Keeps 3 Catalan Players After Estelada Flag Row Before Belgium Quarter-Final
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jul 10
Summary
Three Spain players — Eric García, Dani Olmo and Joan García — came under fire after they were photographed waving esteladas during Barcelona’s La Liga title parade in May.
That image revived a long-running link between Catalan separatism and football, though all three were still selected for Spain’s squad ahead of Friday’s World Cup quarter-final against Belgium.
Nine years after Catalonia’s 2017 independence referendum, the movement has lost momentum, and nationalist parties in 2024 failed to win a regional majority for the first time since 1984.
That cooling has also changed the national-team backdrop: Spain still has nine players born or raised in Catalonia, including Lamine Yamal, but none are known for pro-independence activism.