Sport and the Arts

Spanish cultural life has been reinvigorated in recent years. Spanish-made films – notably those of cult directors Pedro Almodóvar and Alejandro Amenabar – have been able to compete with Hollywood for audiences, and the actress Penélope Cruz won an Oscar in 2009. The overall level of reading has risen, and contemporary literature has steadily gained a wider readership. The performing arts have been restricted by a lack of facilities, but recent major investments have provided new venues, regional arts centres and new symphony orchestras. The country has produced many remarkable opera singers, including Montserrat Caballé, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras. Spain has also excelled in design, particularly evident in the interior furnishings shops of Barcelona.

Spaniards are the most avid TVwatchers in Europe after the British. There are two state-owned TV channels in Spain, as well as a growing number of private channels and regional TV stations thanks to digital platforms. Sports are one of the mainstays of TV programming. Spanish sportsmen and women have been very successful – for example, tennis player Rafael Nadal and Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso. Such role models have encouraged participation in sport and new facilities have been provided to meet this demand. Most popular are basketball and, above all, soccer.

Bullfighting has enjoyed renewed popularity since the late 1980s. For aficionados, a corrida is a unique occasion that provides a link to Spain’s roots, and the noise, colour and argumentative attitude of the crowd are as much of an attraction as the bullfight itself.

A matador plays a bull in the Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza, Seville

Poster for a Pedro Almodóvar film

Beach volleyball is a sport that fascinates me and even more so since I met some goddesses called Beach Girls. Six Spanish girls who are in Berlin these days cheering up the scene between matches at the European Beach Volleyball Championship.

Although the name Beach Girls doesn't sound very Spanish, the colors of their bikinis give them away. That red and yellow looks amazing on them and makes it clear that Spanish women are the most beautiful girls in the entire world.

The Beach Girls are so nice that they don't lose their smile even if it's raining in Berlin and they have to cover themselves with a raincoat.