2009, the sharp rise being attributed to the influence of Ronaldinho and then-president Joan Laporta's media strategy that focused on Spanish and English online media. , the club has 143,086 memberships, called socis. In addition to membership, there are 1,264 officially registered fan clubs, called penyes, around the world. The fan clubs promote Barcelona in their locality and receive beneficial offers when visiting Barcelona. Among the best supported teams globally, Barcelona has the second highest social media following in the world among sports teams, with over 103 million Facebook fans , only behind Real Madrid with 111 million. The club has had many prominent people among its supporters, including Pope John Paul II, who was an honorary member, and former prime minister of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. References Bibliography External links Official website Official supporters website Official Barça Fans website FC Barcelona Fans Site FC Barcelona Schedule El Mundo de las Penyes Blaugrana Penya Barcelonista de Mostoles Penya Blaugrana London Cules de FC Barcelona Facebook Page FC Barcelona Barcelona FC Barcelona nl:FC Barcelona#Supporters