BARCELONA, Spain – Pep Guardiola, the former coach of the Barcelona Football Club and the most recognized international face of Spain’s autonomous Catalonia region, is standing for election in the Catalan parliament as part of a pro-independence campaign for his native region.
Guardiola, 44, is standing as a candidate for the two main political parties seeking independence from Spain, local media reports said.
Guardiola, now manager of Germany’s Bayern Munich and who led the Barcelona team to 14 titles in four years, will figure as the final candidate in a list of pro-independence political parties seeking to win in the Catalan regional parliamentary elections on September 27.
His move is seen more as a symbolic gesture than a change of career.
Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz has called Guardiola’s decision “sad and regrettable,” because he said one should not enter politics and at the same time keep working as a coach for the German team.
Guardiola, from the Catalania town of Santpedor, has been a long supporter of secession and has a huge appeal among Catalans.
For Catalans, the Barcelona team is more than just a sport: it’s a national identity. Last month, during a match for the King Cup in Barcelona, aficionados of the Barcelona club booed the Spanish national anthem, something that has happened several times.
The Catalan government has long wished for Madrid´s green light for a referendum on independence, such as the one held last year in Scotland. The Spanish government has not agreed to this request and last week Catalan center-right leader Artur Mas joined the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) party forces to create a joint list for the upcoming elections, including pro-independence organizations.
“We have a great opportunity, let´s take advantage of it,“ said Mas on Sunday, noting that the “next opportunity will take long.”
If the pro-independence forces get a majority the parties are planning to declare secession from Spain within 18 months after elections.
Although this is the first time Catalan politicians are so determined in backing independence, polls have shown in the past months a decline in the number of voters seeking separation from Spain.
A surge of new political parties, such as the leftist Podemos and the rightist Ciudadanos, have come out in attack of politics as usual. Their programs have been particularly targeting the political establishment and official corruption, stealing a considerable number of pro-independence supporters.
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