Sports in Spain
Sports play an important part in the daily life of the Spanish people, and
each region has its favourite forms of play. In mountainous
Catalonia, skiing and other winter sports are popular; along the Valencia
coast, windsurfing, scuba diving, and surfing have countless enthusiasts;
in the Basque provinces, jai alai (a kind of racquetball) is a favourite
pastime; and in Asturias and Andalusia, equestrian events draw large
numbers of spectators and participants alike
Corrida de toros (Bullfighting)
The origin of Corrida de toros is in 1133 at the Coronation of the King
Alphonso VIII . Modern Bullfighting was introduced in 1726 by
Fransisco Romero. He introduced the Estoque (A type of swoad) and
Muleta (the folk hat).
Corrida de toros (“running of bulls”) is most popular in Spain. A staple
of Spanish culture dating back to antiquity, bullfighting is considered the
national spectacle, a rich pageant more akin to a beautifully
choreographed ballet than a sporting event. It is seen as a
heroic, albeit bloody, test of wills involving courage, intelligence, grace,
and elegance. Spain’s foremost matadors have been national heroes of
mythic stature, as Manolete was in the 1940s. The season runs from
March to October, with bullfights typically occurring on Sunday
afternoons in major cities and in almost every town during local
festivals. The mecca of bullfighting in Spain is in Madrid, at the
LasVentas bullring.
Olympic in Spain
Spain’s National Olympic Committee was founded and recognized in
1924. The 1992 Summer Olympic Games were held in Barcelona, where
Spanish athletes earned 13 gold medals, including for football (soccer),
swimming, running, and walking. Spaniard Juan António
Samaranch served as president of the International Olympic
Committee from 1980 to 2001.
Football in Spain
Football was introduced into Spain by the British at the end of the 19th
century (British miners established the first Spanish football club,
Recreativo, in Huelva in 1889), and a professional league was set up in
the 1920s. By the 1950s football had surpassed bullfighting in
popularity. Spain’s leading clubs have a distinguished record in
European competitions; indeed, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are two
of football’s most famous organizations. The Spanish men’s national
team won the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)
European championship in 1964 but then was long saddled with a
reputation for failing to win “big” international matches. Spectacularly
reversing its fortunes, Spain won the 2008 UEFA championship, the
2010 World Cup, and another UEFA championship in 2012 with a team
that some characterized as the greatest national team in the sport’s
history.
Basketball in Spain
At the end of the 1980s, football was challenged by basketball, whose
popularity soared after Spain won the silver medal in the sport at the
1984 Olympics. In the early 21st century, a pair of Spanish brothers, Pau
and Marc Gasol, became stars in the National Basketball Association.
Tennis in Spain
Tennis is also quite popular in Spain. Famous Tennis player from is
Spain are Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz. Rafael Nadal won 22
grandslams in his career so far in which he is most long serving No. 1
ranked player in the history of sport.
Other popular spectator sports include hockey on roller
skates, motorcycle racing. Cycling also has a large following, and
Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurain was a multiple winner of the Tour de
France.
Historically, the country has had a fairly poor record in protecting its
natural resources, including Spain’s rare wetlands Doñana National
Park, from industrial development; despite this, Spaniards are avid users
of their country’s many parks and picturesque countryside.
