The only place the Catalonian people felt safe to celebrate their heritage, speak their language and wave the Senyera was inside the Camp Nou Stadium during FC Barcelona home matches. The Camp Nou became the cultural and spiritual home of Barcelona and Catalonia, a place where the legacy of the Catalan people would be preserved. It was a place where subjugated peoples, by celebrating their culture, were given the freedom to act in open rebellion towards their oppressors. Barcelona became “Més que un club” (more than a club) to the people of Barcelona and Catalonia who relied on FC Barcelona to give them the freedom to celebrate and express their cultural and political identity.
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Real Madrid, on the other hand, represented the traditional ideals and values of the Spanish establishment. Real Madrid was known as Madrid Football Club until 1920 when King Alfonso XIII gifted Madrid FC the name “Real” (Royalty) and the club changed its name to Real Madrid and added a crown to their club crest. At that time Atlético Madrid, their future city rival, was still a feeder club to Athletic Bilbao. Thus, Real Madrid was not only known as the primary club of Madrid, but the club that represented the Spanish Monarchy. In 1931 after a Spanish general election ended the Spanish Monarchy and created The Second Spanish Republic, Real Madrid was stripped of their title “Real,” returning to the name Madrid FC, and their new crest did not include a crown. In 1939, after Franco and the Nationalists won the Spanish Civil War and Franco became the dictator of Spain, he restored the “Real” to Madrid FC, and again favored the club that Alfonso XIII established as the club that represented the traditional ideologies of Spain.