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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
National
Jane McLeod

Actress Eva Longoria refuses to call Catalonia 'Spain'

HOLLYWOOD actress Eva Longoria has impressed Catalan independence supporters after refusing to say she was in Spain during a trip to Figueres.

The Desperate Housewives star is on a five-month trip to the Girona town to film a new TV series, and has invited friends and family to stay with her while she’s working.

During an Instagram story posted on Sunday, Longoria corrected her close friend who told her millions of followers that the pair were in Spain.

“Where are we, Christy?” she asks.

“We’re in Santa Lucia, in Espana,” she replied.

“Well, Catalonia … Catalonia,” the actress told her friend who promptly corrected herself.

The clip has been widely shared among Catalan independence supporters, who have interpreted the exchange as Longoria backing their cause.

“It only took Eva Longoria a few months in the Emporda to become pro-independence,” wrote local Catalan journalist Ivan Alvarez.

The clip was also shared in Catalan newspaper El Nacional, who noted that Longoria’s phrasing had made those in favour of independence “melt”.

The newspaper added that the celebrity’s apparent support was “better than Jimmy Jump”, a man well known for streaking and interrupting major sporting events, backing the cause.

On social media, Catalans were thrilled with the video.

“Eva Longoria doing more in an Insta story than independent marches in five years,” wrote one Twitter user.

The video comes after the lawyer for exiled Catalan politicians Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati told the European General Court that the European Parliament has been treating them in a “degrading way and violating their rights for three years”.

Last week, former Catalan president Puigdemont offered his support to Scotland in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.

“Full support to the Scottish people and their institutions on the road to independence,” he said on Twitter. “A democratic and European path, to which he has the right and which he will complete despite today's decision.”

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