Soccer is popular in all European countries and Spain is not an exception. But Spanish soccer fans take it a little further then other people in other countries. While in other countries soccer is mainly a men's game and the fans are mainly young people, in Spain whole families, including grandfathers and mothers, go to see a soccer match. And all of them go to the stadium with their own sandwiches and drinks.
Soccer (or fútbol in Spanish, a word that comes from "football") is much more than just a game in Spain . It's almost a religion for the fans. Week after week millions of Spaniards passionately follow the soccer results. The country stops and the streets empty whenever an important partido de fútbol (soccer match) is being played. For those who don't live it with passion this is the perfect moment to go to the cinema, walk or do the shopping. None of these non-soccer lovers go to a bar or a cafeteria: They are packed with people watching the partido on TV, listening to the radio and shouting.
Soccer is the "Deporte Rey" (King of Sports) in Spain and, as someone said, a low-cost therapy to counter the problems of everyday life.
Franco often used soccer to divert attention from the problems of his dictatorship. The anti-communism and chauvinism of the regime made the people proud of being Spanish when the national team defeated England (because of the Gibraltar problem). Nowadays we don't have "Franco's problem" but there are still a great many common problems to solve. By the way, even though we don't live in a fascist regime, there are more soccer matches on TV than ever. Hey, you can even buy a TV satellite and see the thrilling Saudi Arabia vs. Egypt!
The fact is that soccer not only makes people happy; it makes a lot of money too. Clubs "buy and sell" players for prices that make you shake your head in amazement. The chairmen or owners of the big teams have a lot of power just because of the posts that they hold. Fútbol and Spain are two closely related teams. It's a passion for men, kids and women, which can be difficult to understand to people who come from countries where soccer is not so popular.
The biggest and most famous "Club de Fútbol" are FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. These two clubs are always in a fight for the best place in the competition and when they face each other in a game, the whole country is watching and television audiences easily reach the 11 million viewers.
It is called El Gordo, or the Fat One, and is the world's biggest lottery. But the Spanish obsession with gambling doesn't stop there. It is an everyday craze. The tickets for El Gordo are already on sale when the draw is not even on for another three months. Spaniards often spend ¬ 100 a time on El Gordo tickets. These tickets are as central to Christmas as the manger and the Three Wise Men. Then the country will come to a standstill as a choir of children sing the lottery numbers on live television when the draw is made on 22 December. Of course, all but a lucky few will tear up their El Gordo ticket moments later. Yet, as all Spaniards reason, there is always a chance... And with prize money of up to ¬ 1.75 billion, who could resist? No wonder it's called El Gordo.
Spaniards are renowned as Europe 's most passionate gamblers. In 1991, every Spaniard was estimated to have spent ¬ 435 on gambling each year, whereas the average Briton spent just ¬ 288 - even though comparable incomes were much less in Spain. When you think of gambling in Spain , the blue ONCE kiosks are perhaps the image most synonymous with what is a national sport.
But though many foreigners will have seen these kiosks, most will not be so familiar with the background to ONCE, which is run by blind people. The Spanish National Blind Association (ONCE) was first set up by General Franco's Nationalist government in 1938. The idea was to provide work for blind people, whose numbers had increased because of the casualties in the Civil War. Many sellers who do not sit in the famous kiosks stand on street corners selling the strips of tickets a sight which has appalled some visitors in the past. Today, the organisation numbers some 23,000 sellers and has raised 160 million for charitable causes. It also employs disabled people who make up some 60 percent of its employees.
Aside from ONCE, the other lottery which attracts huge interest in Spain is El Nino - the child - which is held on 6 January (Epiphany) when children traditionally get their Christmas presents.
A good illustration of how much the lottery makes for the Spanish government, figures released in 1991 showed it made enough cash to pay for the entire legal system. Aside from the lotteries, there are any manner of ways to fritter away your money in Spain . Bars throughout Spain boast card and domino games. Thanks to a relaxation of laws on privately-organised gambling in 1977, Casinos, bingo and fruit machines were suddenly legal again. Bingo became a craze, with hundreds of halls opening. The game's appeal has dwindled but still two percent of Spaniards are thought to dabble. The one-arm bandits or 'tragaperras' took over when bingo's appeal faded. Internet betting may have replaced the more conventional forms of gambling, but it is harder to quantify.