Sport in Catalonia

Sport has an important incidence in Catalan life since the beginning of the 20th century. The main sports in Catalonia are football, basketball, handball, rink hockey, tennis and motorsport. Then I will talk about some of these.

FOOTBALL

Football is considered the most important sport in Catalonia and was introduced in the late 19th century by a combination of British

There are several reasons to affirm that football is the most practiced sport in Catalonia, since both by tradition and by the number of federative licenses in progress, therefore it’s the most important sport in Catalonia.

FC Barcelona stadium

To travel, when people ask me: Where are you from?, if I say that I am from Catalonia, (north-eastern zone of Spain), they immediately join it with the city of Barcelona to the city of Barcelona and the football club barcelona, (FCB) saying right away their players, Messi, Neymar, Suarez, etc. They are known around the world for their great impact.

MOTORSPORT

Motorsport has a long tradition in Catalonia involving many people, with some world champions and several competitions organized since the beginning of the 20th century. ”Circuit de Catalunya”, built in 1991, is one of the main motorsport venues, holding the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix, the Spanish F1 Grand Prix, a DTM race, and several other races.

Motorcycling is one of the historical sports, with motorcycle road racing world champions as Àlex Crivillé, Sito Pons, Emilio Alzamora and Dani Pedrosa.

Now the most important motorcycle rider is Marc Márquez.

He’s only 23 years old and he’s ALREADY won five World Championship Motorcycle titles in the three existing categories.125cc (2010), Moto2 (2012) and three-time world champion in MotoGP (2013, 2014 and 2016).

In his first season in the top category of motorcycling, he became the title of 2013, becoming the youngest driver to win a MotoGP championship. He is also the youngest driver in history to be three times champion category of motorcycling.

TENNIS

Tennis began to be practised in Catalonia in the late 19th century, in cities such as Barcelona or Reus, by some British people established in Catalonia and members of the Catalan bourgeoisie.

The main annually tennis tournament that is organized in Catalonia is “Torneo Godó”, held in Barcelona on clay surface since 1953.

The tournament is played in the men's singles and men's doubles categories. It is part of the ATP World Tour 500, and delivers one million dollars in prizes

Some Catalan players have won the most world tournaments:

Roland Garros: Sergi Bruguera (1993, 1994), Albert Costa (2002) and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1989, 1994, 1998);

US Open: Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1994).

Masters Cup: Àlex Corretja (1998).

And also some medals have been won by Catalan tennis players in the Olympic Games: Jordi Arrese, silver in 1992, Sergi Bruguera, silver in 1996, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, silver in 1996 and silver in 1992 in doubles.

BASKETBALL

The Gasol brothers, Marc and Pau.these are the names of Catalan players currently making history in the NBA, the league of the United States and the most famous in the world.

Catalan footballers among its players, and many of the most celebrated players of Barcelona team, Xavi Hernández, Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqué, Cesc Fàbregas, Víctor Valdés, Sergio Busquets, etc. Also a great coach Catalan who made history in the barça, this is Pep Guardiola CURRENTLY WORKING.......