Deporte y democratización en la Barcelona contemporánea: apuntes para un estudio

From a historical point of view, the spanish transition to democracy during 1975-1982 was a framework of deep juridical, social and political transformations related to sport phenomenon, much more than a simple liberalization of the private sport system or a gradual extinction of the Franco system institutional structures.. Barcelona’s case studied in this paper –paradoxical in relation to other spanish capitals– the democratization involved unheard of changes in the social perception of sports performing, the local administration involvement, the linked social movements, the sport sociability patterns and the presence of sport in the streets. Finally, this paper is the result of the first part of a research study belonging to a future PhD tesis about the transformation of the social phenomenon of sports during the spanish political transition in the case of Barcelona. It included several general considerations that shape the basic interpretation of the study, concerning the link between the political democratization and the characteristics of the overcrowding process of sports.