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It goes without saying that Spain is a sporty nation, with the population participating in great numbers, both actively and passively, in a wide range of activities. Agreeable climate, diverse geography and international success in the sporting arena allows physical exercise to become an intrinsic part of Spanish life. The Barcelona Olympics of 1992 are credited with causing a surge in the provision of gyms and sports centres, while cycling, golf, skiing and hiking are all undertaken in large numbers. Every town has its five-a-side football court, called fútbol sala, and a space where the distinctly Spanish, or specifically Basque, pelota unfolds.
Football
Football is Spains prime spectator sport by some margin. Millions of fans are glues to the tv set for the weekly Sunday La Liga ritual. Over a quarter of a million fans attend top-flight football matches each week. The national league features three main divisions, the lowest of which is subdivided into four regional sections. The top tier, the Primera Liga, kicked off for the first time in 1928. Today, the top teams are studded with global superstars and the games are exported to a vast international audience.
Over a quarter of a million fans attend top-flight football matches each week.
Real Madrid are the most successful club in European history and Barcelona, who boast the biggest football stadium in Europe at the Nou Camp, are not bar behind. Between them, Real and Barca have won nearly 50 of the annual premier division competitors since 1930. The also-rans are having more of an impact than they used to, with Valencia in particular enjoying recent success. Other historic clubs include Atlético Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Sevilla and Real Sociedad. Deportivo La Coruña broke into the big boys’ league more recently.
The first football club formed in Spain was actually Gimnastic de Tarragona in 1886, but didn’t form an official team until 1914.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao are all founding members of La Liga and have never been relegated from the top division. Bilbao came close in 2007, finishing one place above the dropzone.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao are all founding members of La Liga and have never been relegated from the top division.fredo di Stefano. a legend. He won 5 European cups. He scored a total of 216 goals in 282 appearances.
The third division of Spanish football, Segunda División B, contains a number of Primera Liga reserve teams.
Franco unofficially adopted Real Madrid as ‘his’ team, and thus they are still often associated with the right wing. It also gives legions of Spanish football supporters who despise Real Madrid for their success (notably Barcelona fans) another excuse to hurl abuse in their general direction.
The English Connection : Although generally known by its anglicised name fútbol, the literal Spanish word for the game is actually balompié. The English origins of the game in Spain are easily traced; the oldest club in Spain, Real Club Recreativo de Huelva was formed in 1889 by Dr Alexander McKay and British workers from the nearby Rió Tinto Company. When in March 1890, they lost the first official game of football in Spain to a team from Seville, 20 of the 22 players were English. Athletic Bilbao was another club formed largely by the English, instituted by migran ship and steelyard workers in the Basque region. Ironically, today the club upholds its cantera policy, whereby only players of Basque region may turn out for the team.
Basketball
Basketball is the second most popular spectator sport in Spain. Baloncesto as they call it, has a national league compromising of 18 teams. The top 8 finishing teams compete for the ACB title in the playoffs at the seasons end. Real Madrid and Barcelona, affiliated with the football teams of the same names are the most successful clubs. They’ve won 25 out of the 27 league championships played out so far. The national team won the FIBA World Championship for the first time in 2006.
Both Real Madrid and Barcelona Basketball teams have won 25 out of the 27 league championships played so far.
Cycling
Cycling is seen as a traditional sport for Spaniards, for both participants and spectators, thanks to the Vuelta a España ; one of the three ‘grand tours’ of Europe, which originated in 1935 and has been annually held since 1950. Basque rider Miguel Indurain is the outstanding success story of Spanish cycling, having won the Tour de France consecutively from 1991 to 1995.
Bullfighting
It is a sport or an art? Many aficionados are more likely to tell you its an art form; flick through a Spanish newspaper and you’ll find the bullfighting reported in the culture section, not amongst the sport.
The big debate. There is also the well known debate of whether bullfighting is cruel, which exists both within Spain and beyond its boarders.
Origins. There is little agreement on where bullfighting came from either. Did the Romans introduce it to Spain as a gladiatorial warm up act? Was it the Moors who turned the killing of a bull into a ritual, purportedly cultural event, apparently spearing the toro from horseback? What we do know is that these days the season runs from March to October, with contests held on a Sunday evening.
What happens in a bullfight? The classical Spanish-style bullfight, or corrida de toros, isn’t quite as simple as man versus beast. A traditional fight actually involves two bulls, 21 people and three phases. The cast list breaks down thus: three matadors, each with six assistants; two picadores (lancers on horseback), three banderilleros (who have flagged darts) and a mozo de espada (the keeper of the swords). The contest has three distinct phases:
Phase 1 - tercio de varas (third of lancing), sees the matador staring down the bull before the picadores stab it in the neck. This is supposed to provide important clues about the bull’s behaviour as well as weakening it for the stages ahead.
Phase 2 - tercio de banderillas (third of flags), features three banderilleros each trying to jab two flags into the bull as close to the first wound as possible.
Phase 3 - which goes by macabre or tercio de muerte (third of death) which involves the matador, the bull, a sword and the iconic red cape.
Nowadays more than 70% of Spaniards have registered no interest in bullfighting. The end of a cultural era?
Nowadays bullfighting is waning in popularity. A survey conducted by Gallup in 2006 found that more than 70% of Spaniards registered no interest in the spectacle. In August 2007, Spanish TV took the controversial step of cancelling live coverage of bullfighting, citing the violent content as a reason. In Catalonia, the autonomous government has declared itself ‘anti-bullfighting’ and imposed a series of restrictions on the practice, although it continues for an audience compromised largely of tourists. Andalusia and Castile show less inclination toward ending the tradition.
Golf
Golf is another popular sport in Spain. Both participation and the number of courses grows rapidly, helped in large part by the British expats’ love of a round or two. For the spectator too, Spain has a pleasing golfing pedigree. Severiano Ballesteros, José María Olazábal and, more recently, Sergio García, have all reached the peaks of the men’s game.
Basque Region
The Basque region has always been different to the rest of Spain, inventing a whole range of their own sports. Pelota is the only Basque sport that spread throughout Spain, taking on myriad guises as it went. It is similar to that of squash but at high speeds with rackets replaces by hands, a leather glove, wooden bats or curved baskets. Players fling a leather or rubber ball around on a court that contains one or two walls. As you can gather, the sport has numerous versions.
The Basque countries other sports have their roots in rural graft. The only qualification for participation seems to be a suitable level of butchness. Events range from the recognisable, such as sheep dog trials, tugs of war and rowing regattas, to the downright weird. Woodcutting, known as aizkolari sees contestants competitively chopping away at a log with an axe while balancing precariously on said log. Its’ sister-sport, trontzalaritza, is similar but with saws. From there you could take in a bit of stone lifting, sheaf tossing or even a ram fight (known as peleas de carneros).
Legends of Spanish Sport
Alfredo di Stefano — He actually started his life as an Argentine but later played football for Spain after establishing himself as a Real Madrid legend. He usually played as a striker but was versatile enough to play anywhere on the pitch. In the 1950s, Di Stefano won 5 European Cups on the trot with Real, for whom he scored a total of 216 goals in 282 appearances.
Alfredo di Stefano. a legend. He won 5 European cups. He scored a total of 216 goals in 282 appearances.
Miguel Indurain — The cyclist from Navarre won the Tour de France 5 years in a row in the early 1990s; at that time a record. He seemed more machine than man with a lung capacity of 8 litres (most of have about 6 litres) and a resting pulse of 29bpm.
Rafael Nadal — The young, modest, Majorcan maestro of contemporary Spanish sport is a tennis player. He became the 4th youngest player to win the French Open title in 2005, a trophy he secured again in the following two years. Only the mighty Swiss, Roger Federer, keeps him from the world number one spot.