Their skin in the game: the Basques, the Catalans and the ‘body politic’ of the Spanish national football team

Winning the 2008 and 2012 UEFA European Championships and the 2010 FIFA World Cup finally silenced the decades-long ‘Quixotic failure narrative’ (Quiroga 2013: 19-48), and spoke of a different country. Pro-Spain fans and commentators believed that the spectacular performance of the Roja, with Catalan football as its core identity, reflected a new ‘unity

in diversity’. The successes of the national team were celebrated as evidence that Spain had become a modern country that was politically and socially united at last, and had overcome its regional divisions. Or had it? As of 2015, Spain faces the greatest political challenge in the postFranco era to the nation’s constitutional unity. In June 2014, King Juan Carlos abdicated in anticipation of a ‘hot fall’ as Catalans prepared to vote on the question of independence on the 9 November, despite a constitutional ban. Basques and Catalans have been claiming regional rights and liberties with varying degrees of intensity since the late nineteenth century. The 2011 permanent ceasefire of ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna ‘Basque Land and Freedom’) and the current economic crisis have led to significantly greater support among Basques and Catalans for political movements that pursue independence.