Industrialization, red flags and ikurriñas: The origin of Basque workers´ sport (1931-1936)

Abstract

New sports emerged in the Basque country together with industrialization. They became a mass phenomenon from which the political tendencies didn’t want to remain apart. Working class sports movement in basque country has yet to be thoroughly studied. Between 1931 and 1936, in Basque country, reflections on sport phenomenon from socialist and communist prism gained importance due to the socio- political context of the moment. That movement started in 1935 with the creation of the Cultural and Sports Labour Federation (Federación Cultural Deportiva Obrera, FCDO), which had its peak with the team of athletes sent to the 1936 People’s Olympics to be held by July in Barcelona. This structuration has been studied thanks to documentary records, historical press and hemerographic files. These have been limited because of the war context, when diverse documentation was burned.