\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Diplomat
\nThe Prime Minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, declined to comment on Tuesday on footballer Lamine Yamal\u2019s decision to wave a Palestinian flag during FC Barcelona\u2019s La Liga title celebrations, simply reiterating that \u201cSpain has recognized Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the team\u2019s victory celebration tour of Barcelona on an open-top bus, the player was seen waving a Palestinian flag for a considerable time. This image did not sit well with FC Barcelona\u2019s coach, Hansi Flick: \u201cThese are things I don\u2019t usually like,\u201d he stated at a press conference on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spoke with him and told him that if he wants to do it, it\u2019s his decision; he\u2019s of legal age,\u201d but \u201cwe dedicate ourselves to playing football, and we have to take into account what people expect of us,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spoke with him and told him that if he wants to do it, it\u2019s his decision; he\u2019s of legal age,\u201d but \u201cwe dedicate ourselves to playing football, and we have to consider what people expect of us,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n
Pedro S\u00e1nchez was asked about this anecdote during the joint press conference with the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at the Moncloa Palace.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpain has recognized the State of Palestine,\u201d he recalled. \u201cFrom the very first moment, Spain condemned the Hamas attacks and has subsequently condemned the genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli authorities in the Gaza Strip and, of course, also the illegal occupation being carried out through settlements in the West Bank,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
According to the Prime Minister, the time has come to \u201cestablish a political horizon of peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine, and this involves not only access to humanitarian aid, but also an end to impunity and the recognition of a State of Palestine, just as Spain has recognized the existence of the State of Israel,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
This is not the first time that political demands have been raised during a sporting event. In July 2024, footballers \u00c1lvaro Morata (formerly of Chelsea) and Rodrigo (currently playing for Manchester City) chanted the slogan \u201cGibraltar is Spanish\u201d during the celebrations in Madrid\u2019s Plaza de Cibeles following Spain\u2019s victory in the European Championship.<\/p>\n
The Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, described these actions as \u201crepugnant,\u201d and the then-Government spokesperson, Pilar Alegr\u00eda, downplayed the footballers\u2019 words, which were made \u201cin a celebratory context,\u201d and asserted that \u201cno one doubts that a country\u2019s foreign policy is set by that country\u2019s government.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Diplomat The Prime Minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, declined to comment on Tuesday on footballer Lamine Yamal\u2019s decision to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[304],"class_list":{"0":"post-70097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pedro-sanchez","8":"tag-pedro-sanchez"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116569752389274401","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}