Judge allows Catalan 'estelada' flags into Copa del Rey final
The decision from the appeals court has over-ruled the government's decision to ban the esteladas from the Copa del Rey final being played between Barcelona and Sevilla.
The court of administration, headed by Jesús Torres Martínez, has found in favour of Barcelona and has quashed the ban on the 'esteladas' being brought into the final of the Copa del Rey. The ban had been proposed by the Madrid government a few days ago.
Following the proposed ban there had been a lot of unrest in various Barcelona and Catalan separatist groups. There was already talk that delegates of the club would boycott their usual VIP seats in the stadium which would have been alongside national government representatives. Plans were already in place by various associations to hand out Scottish flags if their own were not allowed as a statement of concern over the different approaches the UK and Spanish governments were taking on the issue.
Prior to the final decision of Jesús Torres Martínes, a government official had stated on radio Onda Cero that the initial prohibition was to "avoid conflict" and that the estelada is not representative of all Catalans, is not related to sport and can be used for political propaganda.