Besides football, is there a big rivalry between Barcelona and Madrid?

Question

I just visited Barcelona and a local told my friend not to wear his Madrid shirt for fear of being beaten up. What is up with this?

Answer 1

he he. That's funny.. Ignore that person, My Fiance is proud to be a Merengue ( A Madrid Fan) and he was born and raised here in Barcelona... There is a big rivalry between them also in Basketball.. ( But don´t worry, wear your shirt and be proud)..

Bcn_mimosa from Barcelona, Spain

Answer 2

A great rivalry in the sports, politics and economics. The province, or country, of Cataluña is the riches in all Spain. The Olympics of 1992 in Barcelona was completely prepared by Cataluna without any major help from the rest of Spain. Barcelona is the second city in Spain but is the most Cosmopolitan city by far. The history of Madrid and Barcelona are different in many ways. Madrid was a Capital city designed and built near the geographic center of Spain in substitution of the old capital of Toledo. This was part of the consolidation of the traditional reins that separate the Peninsula. Madrid is a city influenced by Napoleonic and other grandeur from large European cities like Paris or Vienna. Barcelona in the other hand is a city with a longer history. The city was founded by the Romans and you can still see some influences of the roman city planing and architecture. The language is also a point of rivalry between the two cities. In the era of dictator Francisco Franco the Spanish, or Castilian, language was the only official and allowed language in the Country. When democratization of Spain begins after the dead of Franco many provinces, like Cataluna and the Basque country, exalted their home language long banned by the central state of Madrid. Another point of interset is that the son and the daughters of the actuals kings of Spain married in different parts of Spain and the title of the prince is the Principe de Asturias. The unity of the different regions still an important part of the internal politics of Spain.

Yes the rivalry is more than a game between the Real Madrid and El Barcelona.

Spain is a great country and the rivalrys ends when the country need to be unified. Yes they can.

Note :  If you think my answer is funny you can ignore me if you want as mimosa say. Is your choice and your will anyway.

:-)

Answer 3

football(soccer) is a religion over there, think Yankees and red sox, pure hatred