Catalonia may not be a state, but it can count on a small and symbolic red and blue army in the form of European football champions Barcelona.
Despite their international projection, Barca remain a banner for Catalan nationalists who are now seeking independence from Spain.
Although the club has preferred not to be involved in regional elections on Sunday that could launch a process towards secession from Spain, the electoral campaign could have serious ramifications for it.
If Catalonia becomes independent, Barca would not be able to play in La Liga, the president of the league warned this week.
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That poses a dilemma for the Barca fanbase who convert the club’s 99,000-capacity Camp Nou stadium into a yellow, red and blue mosaic of pro-independence flags every weekend and where chants for independence are heard more than the name of their hero, the Argentine Lionel Messi.
In recent Copa del Rey finals, Barca fans have greeted the Spanish national anthem with a storm of boos and whistles, the last of which in May, at Camp Nou, saw the club fined €66,000 (Dh270,000).
As a placard permanently hung at one end of the stadium reads: “Catalonia is not Spain.”
Spanish writer and columnist Manuel Vazquez Montalban defined Barca as a “symbolic and unarmed Catalan army”, especially during the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco between 1939 and 1975 which repressed the Catalan language and nationalism.
“The club was a bastion of freedom. People could speak in Catalan in public without fear and even listen to songs in Catalan,” says historian Carles Santacana, who points out that in 1918 the club demanded that Catalonia be self-governed.
This political function of Barcelona, which softened during the first decades of democracy post-Franco, began to take shape once more during the 2003-2010 mandate of Joan Laporta as the club’s president, which coincided with a pro-independence boom in the region.
In 2014 the club joined a group of institutions that demanded an independence referendum and has lent its stadium on various occasions to secessionist events. Two years ago, Barca’s away strip bore the red and yellow colours of the Catalan flag.
"Currently, there is a coup within Barca. There is an ideological kidnap of the club that has allowed pro-independence leanings into its offices," said Ramon Miravitllas, journalist and writer of the book The Political Function of Barcelona.
“But there is a significant group of fans who don’t want independence and now feel out of place and deserted.”
Politics has reached the dressing room. Various players have publicly supported the celebration of a referendum in the region, such as club legend Xavi, who now plays for Qatari side Al Sadd, and central defender Gerard Pique who attended a huge independence march on September 11 in Barcelona.
“There is a very big movement and it ought to be listened to,” said Pique, who has recently been booed by his own fans when playing for Spain.
Pep Guardiola, Barca’s most successful coach, is making a symbolic stand for election for the independence coalition “Together For Yes”, which leads in the polls.
Ahead of the elections, the club has decided to remain officially neutral.
“Barca has shown it is outside the electoral campaign. We have always spoken about sport, we will not campaign,” club president Josep Maria Bartomeu said last Sunday.
Amid countless warnings from Madrid against independence, the president of the Spanish league, Javier Tebas, said: “Catalan teams could not take part in any competition in Spain unless they stayed in Spain.”
If that happened, Spain’s sports secretary Miguel Cardenal said, Barca may struggle to “reach the last 16 or quarter-finals of the Champions League”.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
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Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
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The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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