The minister of culture and sport in a normal civilized country is someone you would expect to offer congratulations after the election of the new president of an entity such as Futbol Club Barcelona. Also, you would expect them to wish the elected leader the greatest success in his new position. And also, to steer well away from controversies that are not opportune, especially after the overwhelming victory of Joan Laporta, who obtained a huge majority in terms of support from Barça members, above 57% of the votes cast. But that is what would happen in a civil country, with a government that would lead by example when it came to beginning a "reencounter" between Spain and Catalonia. The Spanish minister of culture, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, a member of the federal executive of the PSOE, must be unable to understand this and, far from exercising the slightest courtesy, decided to give a special welcome greeting to Laporta by offering contempt and marking red lines for his presidency: "He cannot put Barça at the service of the independence movement" and emphasizing that Spanish football clubs are part of "Brand Spain".
This is not the first time that the minister has made forays into the world of football and, specifically, on the subject of FC Barcelona. Last February, he considered the numbers in Leo Messi's contract to be exorbitant and added that the well-paid ones should be in science, and that these figures shocked him. Rodríguez Uribes is a Valencian by birth and a native of Madrid by adoption, having spent much of his political career in the Spanish capital. He happened to be a disciple of the former speaker of the Spanish Congress, the Socialist Gregorio Peces Barba - the one responsible for the 2011 quote arising from disagreements with Catalonia, asserting that this time he was confident they would be resolved without the need to bombard Barcelona. Perhaps this is the imprint that Peces Barba passed on to the current minister in his long career as a teacher, having taught at the Academy of Civil Guard Officers from 2012 to 2018, at the Army War School. and the National Police Academy.
Laporta will not have the hundred days of grace that are usually granted to anyone who assumes a position and the Spanish state has hastened to mark the territory of what he can and cannot do. Although in my article yesterday I already mentioned this, I thought the warning would not come so quickly, if only for the sake of mere courtesy. There must be more fear than they are letting on. They have not waited a single day to give a stern warning to the new president that they will not let him get away with anything and that the current situation is not that of his previous period at the club between 2003 and 2010. Spain has lost its freedom of expression, and repression against pro-independence sectors has become generalized. Nothing will be easy for Laporta in this new phase and the deep state has not waited even a minute to advise him, even before he has opened his mouth.
Luckily, the leader who is returning to Barça, unequivocally in favour of the independence of Catalonia, is more than ready for what might fall on him and he knows perfectly well that the main service he can provide is to place the club back in the elite, to heal its damaged finances and stabilize the club institutionally. And analyze in depth whether irregularities have been committed, which will force him to carry out a criminal audit of Barça so as not to encounter unpleasant surprises within a few months.