Friday, 20 May 2016

Barcelona fans allowed to bring Estelada flags to Copa del Rey final

 

Barca Scot 
 
Barcelona fans will now be allowed to bring pro-Catalan independence flags to Sunday's Copa del Rey final with Sevilla.

Supporters had planned to have Scotland flags at the Vicente Calderon after the government's representative in Madrid decided not to allow Estelada flags for "operational and security reasons".

But a Madrid judge has overruled that decision after Barcelona appealed.

The club had said it was "an attack on the freedom of expression".

After the flag was banned, Catalan nationalist organisations had decided to hand out 10,000 Scottish Saltires at the Madrid final.

Scotland voted to stay in the United Kingdom in 2014, but the Spanish government will not allow Catalonia a similar referendum.

"We've chosen this symbol because it highlights the different treatment that Catalonia receives from Spain, compared with the UK government's treatment of Scotland," a group of bodies said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Barcelona released a statement following the Estelada ban.

"FC Barcelona considers the decision to be an attack on the freedom of expression, the fundamental right of each and every individual to express their ideas and opinions freely and without censorship, a right which is recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," it read.

Carles Puigdemont, President of the Generalitat of Catalonia that he will now attend the game following the decision being overruled.

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