Spain Sports – The Most Popular Sports in Spain

The Most Popular Spanish Sports

Find below Spain national sports, ranked by popularity:

So there you have them, the most popular Spanish sports! Keep reading below for more information about each sport in Spain.

What is the National Sport of Spain ?

The national sport of Spain is Football.

Spain is crazy about football, and it’s definitely Spain favorite sport. And whether it is about watching its insanely successful clubs like Real Madrid or FC Barcelona, or their national team, La Roja, you can easily understand why: any game is thrilling to watch, and the passion Spaniards have when it comes to football is contagious. If you go to Spain, you will definitely want to play and/or watch football.

Learn More About Spain Popular Sports

Spain is a country in Southwestern Europe with a very rich history. It is situated on the Iberian Peninsula, and it is bordered by France, Portugal and Andorra. Its capital city is Madrid, which counts more than 3,223,000 inhabitants (but more than 6,791,000 if you include the metropolitan area).

An interesting part of the country that I wanted to tackle is its most popular sports. In light of that, I have listed all Spain popular sports, and I hope you will love them:

Football

The most popular sport in Spain is, by far and away, football.

You probably know it already, but Spain is an absolute fan of football, or fútbol as they call it. The Spanish league, La Liga, is considered to be one of the best competitions on the planet. Illustrious clubs like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid (and their legendary rivalry, El Clásico) are the emblem of Spain, but the national team should not be forgotten: they won the FIFA World Cup in 2010 as well as the Euros 3 times.

Number of Football licensed players in Spain: 1,063,090

Famous Spanish Football players: Sergio Ramos, Andrés Iniesta, Raúl González Blanco, Xavi, Carles Puyol, David Villa, Iker Casillas, Fernando Hierro, Emilio Butragueño, Andoni Zubizarreta, Telmo Zarra, Ferran Torres, Alfredo Di Stéfano, Pep Guardiola, Sergio Busquets

Basketball

The second most popular sport in Spain is basketball.

Nothing comes close to football in Spain, that is a fact. However, basketball is on the rise, and it is definitely what comes closest to the almighty #1 sport.

Similarly to La Liga, the Spanish ACB (national basketball league) is a major European league. Local teams like Real Madrid Baloncesto, FC Barcelona Bàsquet and Joventut Badalona have all won international tournaments, like the Euroleague or the Eurocup.

When it comes to the national men’s team, they won their first gold medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

Number of Basketball licensed players in Spain: 385,110

Famous Spanish Basketball players: Santi Aldama, Usman Garuba, Juancho Hernangomez, Willy Hernangomez, Serge Ibaka, Ricky Rubio, Marc Gasol, Sergio Rodriguez, Wally Szczerbiak

Handball

The third most popular sport in Spain is handball.

As you have seen, ball sports are extremely popular in Spain, and it makes sense that handball rounds out this top three. And yes, again, the national league called the Liga ASOBAL is one of the best club competitions. Its best teams are BM Ciudad Real, FC Barcelona Handbol, and Portland San Antonio, and they either won or finished runner-ups in the Champions League.

The national team has won 8 medals in the top tournaments since the 1990s, including 3 bronze medals at the Olympic Games.

Famous Spanish Handball players: Raúl González, David Barrufet, David Davis, Raúl Entrerríos, Iker Romero, Julen Aguinagalde, Alberto Entrerríos, Víctor Tomás

Cycling

The fourth most popular sport in Spain is cycling.

Cycling has always been one of the major sports in Spain since the 1940s. The country hosts one of the most important European and worldwide cycling events, the Vuelta a España, every year. It is part of the Grand Tours alongside the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia.

Many Spanish cyclists have won the Tour de France, like Federico Bahamontes, Luis Ocaña, Pedro Delgado and Óscar Pereiro.

On top of that, Spaniards also enjoy mountain biking, and the country produced successful athletes like José Antonio Hermida.

Famous Spanish Cycling players: Miguel Induráin, Federico Bahamontes, Luis Ocaña, José Manuel Fuente, Alberto Contador, Julio Jiménez, Vicente Trueba, Pedro Delgado

Tennis

The fifth most popular sport in Spain is tennis.

Many famous tennis men and tennis women originate from Spain, most notoriously legendary Rafael Nadal. The sport is still very famous in the country, and the national team is also very good: they won the Davis Cup 6 times (from 2000 to 2019) and the Billie Jean King Cup, formerly known as Fed Cup, 5 times (from 1991 to 1998).

About Nadal, he is definitely the greatest Spanish tennis player of all time, and even one of the best players overall. He has won 20 Grand Slam titles, and is known for his proficiency on clay court, earning him the nickname “The King of Clay”.

Number of Tennis licensed players in Spain: more than 70,000

Famous Spanish Tennis players: Rafael Nadal, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Manuel Santana, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Conchita Martínez, Carlos Moyà, Manuel Orantes, Carla Suárez Navarro

Padel

The sixth most popular sport in Spain is padel.

In case you have never heard of this sport, padel is a racquet sport that is on the rise, but it has nothing to do with paddle tennis that Americans know of. The main difference between padel and tennis is that the court features walls that the players can use to bounce the ball.

Padel is extremely popular in Spain, with an estimated 6 million players, and this number has only been growing during the past couple years.

Number of Padel active players in Spain: ~6,000,000

Famous Spanish Padel players: Jorge Martinez, Javier Serrats, Jose Maria, Rafael Vega, Miquel Angel, Alberto Crespo, Dani Roqué, Alberto Ordoñez, Alberto Cubero, Mariano Barcia

Swimming

The seventh most popular sport in Spain is swimming.

The coastline of Spain is not only very wide (4,694 km / 3,084 mi) but it is one of the most beautiful ones on the planet. Pristine sand beaches and wonderful warm climate await you on the Iberian Peninsula.

Because of this, water sports as a whole are very popular, and swimming most of all. While it is mostly a recreational sport, there is also a competitive scene. The major Spanish representative is Mireia Belmonte, an Olympic, world and European champion.

Famous Spanish Swimming players: Gemma Mengual, Mireia Belmonte, Andrea Fuentes, Ona Carbonell, Rafael Muñoz, Javier Noriega, Miguel Durán, Marcos Rivera, Hugo González, Aschwin Wildeboer

Golf

The eighth most popular sport in Spain is golf.

With such a perfect climate, sun all around the year and beautiful vegetation, Spain is a perfect country for golf lovers. There are in fact many splendid golf courses all around the country, most notably the San Roque, Sotogrande, Valderrama, and Alcaidesa. Thanks to these, Spain hosted the 1997 Ryder Cup.

The most famous Spanish golfer is Seve Ballesteros, who won the British Open three times as well as the U.S. Masters Tournament twice.

Famous Spanish Golf players: Seve Ballesteros, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Sergio García, Salvador Balbuena, José María Olazábal, Eduardo de la Riva, Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño

Formula One

The ninth most popular sport in Spain is Formula One.

Formula One is another growing sport, and another one in which Spain has produced world-class athletes. This includes Fernando Alonso, who won the world championships twice, in 2005 and 2006. He played an extremely important role in popularizing the sport in the country.

Spain also used to be the only country to host 2 Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona and the Valencia Street Circuit, but it was canceled in 2013.

Number of Formula One licensed players in Spain: 2

Famous Spanish Formula One players: Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz Jr., Alex Soler-Roig, Roberto Merhi, Jaime Alguersuari, Marc Gené, Pedro de la Rosa, Luis Pérez-Sala

Bullfighting

The tenth most popular sport in Spain is bullfighting.

Bullfighting is one of the oldest traditional Spanish sports. While it is on the decline, the sport is still considered part of the national identity, and will probably never be banned, on the opposite of several other countries who fight for the rights of animals. The country even said it would leave the European Union if it was forced to ban bullfighting!

Bullfighting is considered an art form in Spain, and it honors the country’s history, art and culture.

Famous Spanish Bullfighting players: Manolete, Antonio Ordóñez, El Cordobés, Francisco Rivera Ordóñez, Paquirri, Joselito, Luis Miguel Dominguín, Juan Belmonte, Carlos Arruza

Learn more about bullfighting in Spain 

Judo

The eleventh and last most popular sport in Spain is judo.

The only fighting sport on this list is judo, and it is yet another sport that is growing.

The most famous Spanish judoka is surely Nikoloz Sherazadishvili. He won many, many international tournaments, including 2 World Championships (in 2018 and 2021), 1 World Masters (in 2018), 4 IJF Grand Slams (in 2017, 2019, 2019 and 2020), 2 IJF Grand Prix (in 2017 and 2019) and finally 1 Mediterranean Games (in 2018). On top of that, he also won many silver and bronze medals in other events like the European Championships and the World Junior Championships.

Famous Spanish Judo players: Andrés Herzog, Nikoloz Sherazadishvili, Estrella López Sheriff, Laura Gómez Ropiñón, Ana Carrascosa, Laia Talarn Compañó, Julia Figueroa, Maria Monica Merenciano

So there you have them, these were all the most popular sports in Spain. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today.

In case you want to learn more about sports in other countries, feel free to keep reading, as I still have lots of things to tell you about:

Is bullfighting the national sport of Spain?

While bullfighting is a very important and historical part of the national identity of Spain, it is not Spain’s national sport.

This sport is on the decline, but the Spanish government (and many other supporters) does everything it can to defend the sport and make sure it has a bright future. This has been the topic of many controversies, and as time passes by, Spain is put under more and more pressure about its bullfighting traditions.

Are sports important in Spain?

Sports are extremely important in Spain. And it shows with the results of the country. It is a major overall powerhouse: even though many people only think about football when they talk about Spain, the country definitely offers more than this, and has produced legions of world-class athletes.

Even on the recreational side, the vast majority of Spaniards enjoy sports as a pastime.

Does Spain have school sports?

There are indeed school sports in Spain, and the country even has designated sport programs in specialized schools.

When it comes to the general academic studies though, physical education is mandatory. Most of the time, Spanish schools offer great facilities for children and young adults to train their skills and become better athletes, no matter the sport they choose among the most common ones (football, swimming, padel, basketball, handball and tennis).

More Sport Facts!

Loved these Spain sports facts? Want to see what sports are the most popular in other countries?

Then check out these posts:

• Famous Sports in Italy
• Famous Sports in Portugal
• Famous Sports in France

Or click here to see ALL the facts up on the blog! Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of them.

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