After the banners unfurled at the start of the game and the slogans shouted during the first half, minute 10 of the second half has seen the third action by protesters during today's Clásico between Barça and Real Madrid. Specifically, dozens of fans started throwing yellow balls reading "Spain, sit and talk" onto the pitch at Camp Nou.
The protest forced play to be paused for around a minute, whilst security guards ran to gather up all the balls and remove them from the pitch. In the meantime, the TV feed cut away to replays.
◼️◻️📢 The crowd at #ElClasico throws hundreds of yellow balls onto the pitch at #Barça stadium, , protesting for human rights violations in Spain.#StandUpForCatalonia pic.twitter.com/wyIwHFyru5
— Assemblea International (@assemblea_int) December 18, 2019
Masks confiscated
Whilst the balls got into the stadium, a number of posters reading "Spain, sit and talk" and Messi masks to celebrate his sixth Ballon d'Or didn't. El Nacional saw security guards at some gates confiscating the posters, whilst elsewhere they were let through.
Staff working on the checkpoints said they were confiscating the masks for security reasons, because no one is allowed to cover their face. The club used the same argument but denied that posters were being confiscated too.
Tsunami Democràtic posted a tweet with a photo of a poster of the type they say are being seized. In a later tweet, they asked Barça and its president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, "where is freedom of expression now?", describing it as censorship.
Ens informen 📣 que el dispositiu de seguretat del Camp Nou @FCBarcelona_cat està requisant algunes cartolines on es reclama diàleg.
— Tsunami Democràtic (@tsunami_dem) 18 de desembre de 2019
Us demanem que si detecteu aquesta informació, feu fotos o vídeos i els difongueu a través de Twitter amb l’etiqueta #TsunamiDemocràtic. 🌊 pic.twitter.com/eREsVOfyyI
On queda ara la llibertat d'expressió president @jmbartomeu i @FCBarcelona_cat? Aquests fets contradiuen el que es va dir públicament. Això és censura! https://t.co/MEp9jyjnfZ
— Tsunami Democràtic (@tsunami_dem) 18 de desembre de 2019