After 17 minutes and 14 seconds of Sunday's "El Clasico" encounter with Real Madrid, Barcelona fans will offer a vocal demonstration of why the club's motto is "mes que un club" -- more than a club. The team's Nou Camp stadium will erupt with the sound of the Catalan national anthem, sung in the language native to this semi-autonomous region of Spain. It is to commemorate September 11, 1714, and the people who died when the ruling monarchy defeated Catalan troops during the War of the Spanish Succession. It is arguably the biggest club game in the world -- though all too often surrounded by a bucketload of bile between players, coaches and fans -- but as austerity tightens its grip on the Spanish economy, the desire for Catalan independence grows ever deeper.
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Barcelona face Real Madrid on Sunday in "El Clasico"
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Spain is engulfed by serious financial crisis
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Many in Catalonia are calling for the semi-autonomous region to become independent
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Anti-austerity measures have led to protests and violent clashes in Madrid
@placeholder is different from Spanish language, not better or worse, just different.