The red and yellow striped flags of Catalonia that once proliferated on the balconies in Barcelona have reduced; the ensign still flies at state institutions and is draped outside some flats but, since the botched attempt at declaring independence in 2017, Catalonia’s relationship with Spain has been recalibrated in the political and sporting arenas.
Spain’s socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez has taken a more moderate approach to the issue than his conservative predecessor Mariano Rajoy, while on the sporting front Catalans benefit from an influential position in the national football association, the RFEF (Royal Federation of Spanish Football).
Joan Soteras, who was elected president of the Catalan Football Federation (FCF) in 2018 and re-elected in May, is a vice president at the RFEF, where he leads two influential committees.
In March, the Spanish national team even played a friendly in Barcelona – its first game in Catalonia in 18 years – albeit at Espanyol’s Cornella-El Prat stadium
