Barcelona president Joan Laporta has sparked a fresh wave of Real Madrid outrage after declaring that Los Blancos “represent power” while Barca embody “freedom”, intensifying tensions at a time when relations between the clubs have sharply deteriorated. His remarks come amid ongoing clashes between the boardrooms as both sides accuse the other of political and sporting hypocrisy.Laporta made headlines during a La Vanguardia event on Thursday when he was asked about Real Madrid’s VIP box and the political figures frequently seen alongside Los Blancos president Florentino Perez. He responded by framing Madrid as a club aligned with institutional power while presenting Barcelona as the opposite, positioning his side as defenders of democracy, openness and freedom. These remarks immediately reignited tensions that had already grown following Perez’s attacks during Real Madrid's General Assembly, particularly relating to the Negreira case.His comments also came at a moment when both clubs have been moving further apart, especially after Barcelona distanced themselves from the Super League project that once united their leadership with Perez. Supporters and pundits in Madrid reacted angrily to Laporta’s claim, interpreting it as an attempt to weaponise historical narratives in the present-day rivalry. The situation adds another layer of controversy to a relationship that, only a few years ago, had been unusually cooperative.“Real Madrid represents power and Barca, freedom. I don’t know if business deals are made in the Bernabeu’s VIP box. There is power,” Laporta said at an event. “Here it’s a different story; we’re more for democracy and freedom. We have a proper and cordial relationship with Florentino Perez.”“At Barca, we’re not even considering any of this. I’ve been hearing for four years that we’d become a public limited company. We guarantee that Barca will always be owned by its members. It’s an added value we have and it connects us with the community.”Laporta continued: “The investors who Goldman Sachs secured for the stadium liked the fact that we weren’t a public limited company. We’ve created a financial structure to avoid mortgages. We haven’t even considered it. It would hurt us a lot because it’s part of our very essence. Some people don’t see Barca in its entirety.“Barca isn’t a business, it’s an institution. We have different rules. We’re a modern institution, committed to sustainability, equality, and diversity. We’re a Catalan institution, open to the world. All of this leads me to believe that Barca should always belong to its members. My fellow board members and I are the only ones who can guarantee this.“We want peace and sustainability in football. I came across the Super League and went ahead with it because I thought there were many differences with state-owned clubs. It has dragged on, and all this uncertainty doesn’t benefit us. We reached an initial agreement with the Unify platform, but then I found out that Real Madrid were behind it. We should always give peace a chance. It’s better if we’re all on board. Conflict certainly doesn’t benefit anyone.”Laporta’s refusal to privatise Barcelona also aligns with the club’s self-identity as a member-owned institution that ties sport to community rather than private capital investment. His framing of Barça as an institution rather than a business is a continuation of its “Mes que un club” ethos, which emphasises cultural responsibility beyond sporting performanceLaporta’s remarks are likely to inflame tensions further and may prompt an official or informal response from Real Madrid, who have repeatedly rejected the narrative that they benefit from political power. The already fragile relationship between the clubs, strained by the Negreira case, the Super League split and continuous boardroom sniping, appears set for another confrontational chapter.As both teams continue their domestic and European campaigns, the off-field ideological battle may prove just as intense as anything on the pitch. Currently, Real Madrid sit behind Barcelona in the Liga standings after their drop in form in November.