Finished reading
Fear and Loathing in La Liga. With an impressive command of history, we learn how the Spanish Civil War and the resulting Francoist regime shaped the rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. In the opening months of the Spanish Civil War (1936), the president of FC Barcelona was detained and executed by Nationalist troops after getting stopped at a military checkpoint outside Madrid. Meanwhile, Real Madrid’s president was arrested during the war as a political opponent and later forced into exile in France. Under the Francoist regime, Santiago Bernabéu (namesake of the stadium) eventually emerged as president and transformed Real Madrid into the dominant international power it is to this day.
Spain’s high-stakes 20th-century divisions cast the two clubs into opposing identities, with Real Madrid often associated with the Francoist establishment and Barcelona aligned with Catalan identity and its spirit of resistance. But in practicality, how far did this divide really extend? For instance, was Real Madrid actively embraced by the Francoist regime as a symbol of national identity, or did Madrid’s location simply make it the default club of Spain’s centralized government? A bit of both, but more for the sake of international projection:
“At a time of isolation—from which, by the 1960s, Spain was emerging—the success of Real Madrid was a significant tool of legitimization and patriotic pride…Franco’s status as a political pariah and the image of Spain as a downtrodden, miserable place was palliated by soccer success and the joy it brought…the regime celebrated Madrid’s feats, even if they were invariably packaged as a patriotic rather than explicitly political…Madrid were not reluctant contributors to the promoting of Spain’s image although to what extent this can be read as a white-washing of the regime is another matter entirely…The idea of Real Madrid representing Spain was an obsession for Bernabéu, one he drilled into his players in cities with a large Spanish expat community.”After moving beyond their histories under Francoist Spain,
Fear and Loathing in La Liga becomes a more rewarding read for those already familiar with Spanish football. Chapters alternate between the two sides, charting eras defined by their dominant figures: Kubala, Di Stéfano, Cruyff, Ronaldinho, Zidane and the
Galácticos, and, of course, Ronaldo and Messi.
