Spain's central government acted swiftly to exercise extraordinary powers to fire Catalonia's government and dismiss its parliament. Nadal, who is from Mallorca and speaks the island's dialect of the Catalan language, said recently that "I can't see Spain without Catalonia." That made her one of three Catalans who contributed to Spain's haul of seven gold medals in Rio. Former Barcelona player and manager Pep Guardiola has gone much further and become a leading proponent of Catalan independence. "I am a member of the National Police, with my entire family in Lleida, and I feel proud to be Catalan and Spanish," he wrote on Twitter.

Source: ABC News October 28, 2017 15:49 UTC