Penosas statements about the anthem at the Copa del Rey final

The President of the Superior Council of Sports (CSD), Miguel Cardenal, described the statements made by the President of Catalonia, Artur Mas, about the booing of the national anthem at the Copa del Rey final as "pitiful" and stated that he "confuses an invitation to respect with threats."

"Once again, he confuses people by changing reality. What were constant invitations to respect the symbols, he insists on calling them threats," said Miguel Cardenal, following the presentation of the National Surfing Championship this Tuesday at the CSD headquarters.

In this regard, he considered it "completely unacceptable" for someone with a responsibility like the President of Catalonia to make such statements. "Insisting on artificially seeking, in this case, what divides people and hiding what unites us. Also, I found it very sad that he used the same argument, word for word, that Ada Colau used the day after these incidents. I would invite him to regain leadership and not to follow the radical proposals to which he has recently accustomed us," Cardenal stressed.

Artur Mas said he respected the Spanish anthem, although it did not "excite" him, but he admitted that at the Copa del Rey final, he was "slightly amused" to see that despite all "the threats," the State did not manage to prevent a "monumental" booing.

"What amused me a little, but not as a lack of respect, was that a State that had done everything possible, with all the threats, to ensure silence, achieved a monumental booing in a stadium where there were more Basques than Catalans," he commented in a conversation with journalist Iñaki Gabilondo at Barts in Barcelona.