NEW SPORTSMEN OF SPAIN

Hokitika Guardian, 19 November 1927, Page 4

NEW SPORTSMEN OF SPAIN

(By Walter Al. Galliclian). BILBAO, (Spain). One of the most notable signs of

the times in Spain is the immense enthusiasm for English spends. At the time of my first visit, in 1903. football was an unknown game. There

| wore no tennis player, except a few English residents in the south, and polo had not become a popular pastime of the upper class. Bicycles were seldom seen, and during a stay of six months 1 saw no motorcars. The game that arouses tho keenest excitement is “fiithol” (loolball). As a spectacle a futhol match attracts nowadays even more people than a bullfight. Everywhere I hear complaints from the organisers of bullfights that football contests are reducing the revenue derived from the sale of seats in the principal bullrings. Tho eminent futhol player is almost ias well rewarded as the celebrated j bullfighter. If he is noL paid directly i as a professional a lucrative business appointment, practically a sinecure, is ' provided for him I All classes in Spain flock in tlicmj sands to the football grounds. Women ; are keen and critical spectators. The Oastilian flapper, who hns abandoned the mantilla as a full-dress headgear and now hobs her hair, is an admirer ' of the ganie. 'There are several footi hall journals published in tho Penin- | sula, and the daily periodicals have . t.lieir special futhol correspondents, Tn tho vicinity of hill villages in tho north of Spain one sees well-kept footbull fields. Among the young men in the cafes j of large and small towns the constant | topic of conversation is futhol. Tn j Santander a youth in a resnurnnt, j waiting to he served, saw a cork on j the floor and impelled bp the niaster- ! passion, he jumped up and Logan to practise dribbling. He was joined quickly by two opponents All the, terminology of football is in common use in Spain. A village grocer gave me his business "card, a coloured picture of a football tussle, with his name on the hack. The illustration represented <'■'> Paso de Cabezn, “the head pass,” and it was number twenty of a futhol series. In the description of the picture was the remark that “final victory frequently rewards the side j n tl ]r > ..ead pass to a companion.” Tho Spanish football players have beaten French and Portuguese rivals of the highest distinction. They are “temperamental” combatants, very active, and splendid forward players, accustomed to the heat from unclouded summer skies. All forms of British athletics interest the young Spaniard of to-day. T read an account of the “atletismo” at Stamford Bridge in a. local journal, which had many columns upon “cl sport.” Boxing is becoming more popular year by year. Lawn tennis is now a fashionable game at the seaside resorts of San Sebastian and Santander, and the triumps of Senorita d’Alvarez have inspired it large number of Spanish girls to excel in the courts.

Salmon and trout fishing with the fly-rod is another recreation that arouses the enthusiasm of a new school of Spanish sportsmen. Last year the Heir Apparent of Spain, the Prince of the Asturias, had his first lesson in salmon fishing in the River Pas, near Santander, and the capture of a fine fish has given him a. zest for fly-fishing. Twenty years ago the only fishermen by the streams were peasants, who often used nets. Today fly-fishing clubs are being formed in many of the towns on the Biscayan coast, and stringent rules of sport are observed. At Caugas de On is, a little town in Asturias, there is a fishing association of nearly a hundred members.

Hitherto shooting has been a far more popular sport than fishing. The King of Spain is an excellent shot with the rifle, as those who have accompanied him on big-game shooting expeditions testify. Bears, wolves, wild boars, ibex and deer still rove among the Cantabrian Range. and King Alfonso camps out when he visits this fine alpine district of Asturias. In the province of Santander are many expert gunners who make remarkable bags of woodcock and snipe in winter.