Notas para una historia social del deporte en España

Abstract

The author distinguishes between an ancient concept of sport, as regards fighting or competing (in non-organised sports) before the nineteenth century, and the rapid development of modern sport, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries which played an important part in the formation of our modern civilization, especially its role in controlling violence within society. The institutionalization of sport in Spain is presented as a fundamentaly middel-class venture, its spread and growth in popularity , amongst participants, especially during the Franco era, is then described as is its consolidation as a mass and exceptional phenomenon. Finally a series of considerations are presented, discussing the new shape of sport in the face of new physical activities ans pastimes.