After 17 minutes and 14 seconds of Sunday's "El Clasico" encounter with Real Madrid, Barcelona fans will offer a vocal demonstration of why the club's motto is "mes que un club" -- more than a club. The team's Nou Camp stadium will erupt with the sound of the Catalan national anthem, sung in the language native to this semi-autonomous region of Spain. It is to commemorate September 11, 1714, and the people who died when the ruling monarchy defeated Catalan troops during the War of the Spanish Succession. It is arguably the biggest club game in the world -- though all too often surrounded by a bucketload of bile between players, coaches and fans -- but as austerity tightens its grip on the Spanish economy, the desire for Catalan independence grows ever deeper.
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Barcelona face Real Madrid on Sunday in "El Clasico"
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Spain is engulfed by serious financial crisis
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Many in Catalonia are calling for the semi-autonomous region to become independent
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Anti-austerity measures have led to protests and violent clashes in Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Madrid
The fixture against @placeholder, a club so long synonymous with Spain's rulers and its royalty, provides a poignant opportunity for the Catalonian cause to be expressed directly to the Madrid powers.
Catalan
Catalan
Catalan
@placeholder is different from Spanish language, not better or worse, just different.
Catalonia
"The Spanish government is trying to erode the educational system where in @placeholder you study in Catalan but also Spanish ... the government is trying to regain the power in the education system."
Catalan
Catalan
Catalan
"The Spanish government is trying to erode the educational system where in Catalonia you study in @placeholder but also Spanish ... the government is trying to regain the power in the education system."
Catalan
Catalan
Catalan
People come to enjoy the football, yes, but also to make clear it is a time to be @placeholder."
Spain
Spanish
Spain
Despite the views of one of its favorite sons, the football club is less forthright in extolling the virtues of independence, reflecting that not all Barca fans are against a unified @placeholder.
El Clasico
El Clasico
With Real currently trailing table-toppers Barca by eight points heading into the first league @placeholder of the season, the Madrid club's fans haven't had much to cheer either.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Madrid
With Real currently trailing table-toppers Barca by eight points heading into the first league Clasico of the season, the @placeholder club's fans haven't had much to cheer either.
Spain
Spanish
Spain
I'm not happy to live in this moment, because from @placeholder come some insults from Catalonia.