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Some time in the small hours, a car sped round the corner, a Spain flag out  the back and clenched fists out of the window. As it passed, a group of fans in Spain shirts on the pavement waved and cheered. Staggering home in a  wiggly line, bouncing off walls, a pack of lads started singing: "Yo soy Español, Español, Español, Español!" I am Spanish, Spanish, Spanish!

Above their heads, a Spain flag hung from the balcony. Six or seven hours earlier, a normally clear run had been gridlocked. Everyone had been rushing to get to the game.

Nothing unusual there. After all, the game they were rushing back for was the World Cup semifinal and soon they were celebrating Spain reaching a first-ever World Cup.

Only this was Cataluña. Not Castilla, Barcelona or Burgos. Catalunya (as it is spelt in Catalan) traditionally did not support Spain. Viewing figures for Spain games invariably show that the percentages are lower there than anywhere else in the country (Extremadura and Andalucía tend to top the charts). And some positively dislike Spain - seeing it as a centralist state repressing a stateless nation. It's not unusual to see banners in English at Barcelona's Champions League games, declaring: "Catalonia is not Spain."

But here they were celebrating.

Now, let's not get over-excited, or distort a reality. There were far fewer banners and far fewer parties in Barcelona than, say, Madrid or Seville. And the photo Marca showed of people gathering in Sergio Busquets's local bar looked positively morose. Even for last night, the viewing figures will still be lower in Catalunya than (the rest of) Spain, where the overall figure was an 88 per cent audience share. And those celebrating may have been fans from other parts of Spain who live in Barcelona rather than Catalans.

It is wise not to suddenly insist that the national team has united all areas of Spain in a political or patriotic sense. And extremely unwise to expect the sports media to suddenly forget the visceral tone of rivalry between Madrid and Barcelona, or the political shades that are involved. It's even more unwise to expect sections of the media to read into support for Spain anything other than what they want to read into it. One columnist at Sport has claimed that true Barcelona fans shouldn't care about the tournament and a team that does not represent them. They should only care about their club.

After the game, there was even a minor fight on the Metro between people supporting Spain and Catalan nationalists cheering for Holland. An utterly unscientific straw poll of Catalans suggested that significant numbers didn't really want Spain to win. And although El Mundo talked this morning about "more passion than normal," it's always wise to take their word with a bucket-load of salt. Especially on the thorny Spanish-Catalan issue.

It is  also wise not to allow a snapshot lead you to broader conclusions. But still, there they were beep-beeping and zigzagging home. It is happening - a bit at least.

Anyway, never mind the fans. Look at the players.

For years, when Spain underachieved, one of the theories advanced was that players from the Basque country and Catalunya - areas with some degree of desire to seek independence from Spain - did not feel their national team. Easy scapegoats, they were often accused of undermining Spain, of lacking conviction when they played for the selección.

It was a largely ridiculous argument then. And it is an even more ridiculous argument now.

Spain's starting XI last night included one Madrileño (Casillas), one Sevillano (Ramos), one Asturiano (Villa), one Albaceteño (from La Mancha, Iniesta), one Canary Islander (Pedro), one Basque (Alonso) and five Catalans (Piqué, Puyol, Capdevila, Busquets, and Xavi). Meanwhile, there were six Barcelona players (Piqué, Puyol, Pedro, Busquets, Iniesta, Xavi). Seven if you include David Villa, who recently signed for them but hasn't yet played for them.

And there didn't seem to be too much wrong with the team. You could hardly accuse them of not giving their all. Iniesta created the goal against Paraguay. Busquets has been a revelation. Piqué might just be becoming the best centre-back there is. Xavi is arguably the finest midfielder Spain have ever had. Puyol got the goal that took Spain to the final. And Villa, well, he got the goals against just about everyone else.

Maybe the identity of those players had enhanced the interest in and the sympathy for the Spanish team in Catalunya - it would certainly make sense. Naturally, the Spain shirts you see in Barcelona tend to be Villa ones, or Xavi or Iniesta. And there is no doubt that the Barça-heavy identity of the team has sparked the interest of the Catalan media, which has spent much of the World Cup proclaiming this Barça's World Cup - as much, early on at least, because of Argentina's Leo Messi as Spain's Andres Iniesta.

This morning, both Sport and El Mundo Deportivo made sure that they did not pass up on the opportunity to eulogise "their" players above all. "Del Bosque chose the Barça style", said the cover of El Mundo Deportivo. "The most Barça blaugrana national team gave Germany a lesson," said the cover of Sport. A bit parochial, sure; a partial view, certainly. But they were right - as the Madrid press, despite its own bias and even if there was also some opportunistic point-scoring to be done, admitted. Not just because of the number of Barcelona players in the side but also because Spain's style, embodied by Xavi, really is Barcelona's style.

"What would become of us and of them if some crazy man like the little director of the Catalan Federation got his way and  they played as a separate country?" asks Eduardo Inda, the editor of Marca, which is allied to the El Mundo group and whose coverage has been increasingly politically angled over the last two years.

The worrying conclusion for Spain, Catalans would no doubt retort, is that Catalunya would be better than España. Spain certainly wouldn't have had anywhere near as good a chance to be in the final. And nor, without Casillas and Villa and Iniesta, would an independent Catalunya.

Over at AS, the remarks were not nearly so barbed. Instead they just enjoyed the Catalan contribution a hell of a lot, their cover running on "Visca (the Catalan version of Viva) España!" In fact, rather than Catalans embracing Spain, here was Madrid embracing Catalunya, with mad Madridista Tomás Roncero falling over himself to claim Carles Puyol for the cause.

"Puyol," Roncero write, "is a brave bull, hero with boots on, the goat of the Spanish legion, blaugrana balls at the service of a Spain that is proud for Barcelona to be bringing its spectacular football to the national team. Puyol, Pique, Busquets, Xavi, Pedro, Villa and Iniesta have made us forget our day to day colours and melt together, committing our hearts to the red shirt that has taken over our lives. As a friend of mine, who is as big a Madrid fans as anyone I know, says: "I am Puyol, Puyol, Puyol, Puyol!"

For years, one of the theories put forward for failure was the lack of commitment shown by Basque and Catalan players. There was just one flaw in the theory: it was rubbish.