Barcelona star Lamine Yamal drew widespread attention on Monday when he waved a Palestinian flag from the team’s open-top bus during the club’s La Liga title parade through the streets of Barcelona.
A video circulating on social media shows Yamal receiving a Palestinian flag from fans in the crowd and waving it from the open-top bus, drawing loud cheers from those gathered below.
Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Barcelona to greet the players.
The parade ran from Camp Nou to the city centre and back. While the majority of flags on display were Barcelona flags or Senyeres, the Catalan flag, Yamal’s gesture with the Palestinian flag quickly spread across social media and became one of the most talked-about moments of the day.
Barcelona clinched their 29th La Liga title with a 2-0 victory over Real Madrid on Sunday, marking the second time the league title has been decided by an El Clasico.
Barcelona has served as a major hub for pro-Palestinian activism in Spain since the start of Israel’s genocide on Gaza in October 2023. The city has been the site of large, regular pro-Palestine protests and has served as a departure point for aid flotillas attempting to break the blockade of the territory.
Yamal is not the only player in Spain to have recently shown solidarity with Palestine. Rayo Vallecano’s Ilias Akhomach also raised the Palestinian flag in front of fans at Vallecas Stadium during celebrations following a Conference League match.
