World Travel 4 Indians

Talk about sports in Spain and the one game that inevitably pops up is the football. Indeed football is the most popular game in Spain and the Spanish people are immensely passionate about it. Football in Spain is governed at the national level by the Real Federación Española de Fútbol. Football in Spain, in its modern form was introduced in the beginning of the nineteenth century by the immigrant workers from Britain and the Spanish students returning from Britain.

Football in Spain is integrally enmeshed in the country's cultural fabric. The premier football league in Spain, “La Liga” is regarded as the best in Europe. Football has percolated down the different strata of the Spanish society and is the most talked-about topic in the newspaper, bars, streets or playgrounds. The two most popular football clubs of France are the Barcelona and the Real Madrid. What football means to the Spanish can be gauged from the stadiums like Nou Camp Stadium and the Bernabeu stadium in Barcelona and Madrid respectively. While the former can accommodate 100,000 spectators, the latter has a capacity of 90,000. They also constitute the major tourist attractions of the country.

In Spain there is a great pressure on the football teams and their managers to perform well and leave up to the expectation of both the plebeian and the media. The fervent supporters of football in Spain expect nothing short of the very best from both the players and the teams.