Notícies Dilluns 10.02.2014 08:38

Catalan independence flags not allowed in basketball final

Police confiscate the flags saying they're on a list of 'prohibited items'

The championship match of the ACB basketball cup, held in Málaga, featured FC Barcelona against Real Madrid, who won. Barça fans, however, were not allowed to display Catalan independence flags (four red stripes on a yellow background with a triangle and star at one end). Spanish police confiscated the flags at the stadium entrance, saying that they the starred flags were on a list of 'prohibited items'. Some Barça Fans, and also Joventut CB fans complained on Twitter that their flags were taken away and some said they were threatened with fines.

TV3 journalist Jordi Robirosa explained in a broadcast just before the game that police had refused to let people enter with Catalan independence flags. And not only that, 'They put Spanish flags on top of the Catalan independence flags; we saw it with our own eyes.' Robirosa complained about the encroachment on freedom of expression and the beginning of a war of flags that 'Catalan fans, who were the minority, didn't start'.

On social media, many indignant users expressed criticisms with the hashtag '#EsteladesACB'. 'Estelada' is the Catalan word for the Catalan independence flag.

Tuits sobre "#EsteladesACB"