a diplomatic mission: spain and the 1948 london olympics

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A Diplomatic Mission: Spain and the1948 London OlympicsAlex Viuda-Serrano aa Universidad Camilo José Cela ,Published online: 09 Apr 2010.

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A Diplomatic Mission: Spain and the1948 London OlympicsAlex Viuda-Serrano

In 1948, Spain, under the regime of the General Franco, participated in its first summer

Olympics since 1932, following the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. Sixty-seven Spanish athletes competed in nine different sports and the reasons why these sports

were selected will be analysed here. Focusing upon Spanish participation, this articleexplores the historical importance of the London Olympics for Spain as an international

showcase. In order to achieve a balanced view of the attitude of Spain on this Olympiad,it is necessary to analyse both the official documents and the national press, controlled by

the state by means of an iron censorship with some signs of a slight openness. Historicalanalysis of these documents will result in a comprehensive and rigorous study on the

Spaniards’ perception of the Olympic Games, the athletes’ achievements, the attitude ofthe press and the political use of the event by Franco to gain international acceptance.

Introduction

When General Francisco Franco Bahamonde came to power after the Spanish CivilWar (July 1936–April 1939), he ‘was able to achieve a wide coalition government of

fascist, Catholic conservative, Carlist and monarchist groups. He also succeeded inadapting his system to the cultural and economic necessities of the times, creating a

sufficient amount of terror . . . and distraction’. [1]The Second World War was fought by two opposing military alliances: the Allied

powers and the Axis powers. The major Allies were the United Kingdom, Poland andFrance (1939); the Soviet Union, the United States of America and China (1941). The

major Axis powers were Germany, Italy and Japan (signatories to the Tripartite Pactin 1940). Franco had been supported by Hitler and Mussolini and without their help

would not have won the Civil War. Although Spain remained neutral during theSecond World War, its bonds of friendship with the Axis powers were clear duringthe so-called ‘blue period’ of Spanish politics, mainly in the first years of the 1940s.

[2] After the end of the war Spain tried to change its affiliations and come close to theAllies, especially the USA.

Alex Viuda-Serrano, Universidad Camilo Jose Cela. Correspondence to: [email protected]

The International Journal of the History of SportVol. 27, No. 6, April 2010, 1080–1103

ISSN 0952-3367 (print)/ISSN 1743-9035 (online) � 2010 Taylor & FrancisDOI: 10.1080/09523361003656282

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That was the political situation when Spain participated in the 1948 Olympics; notto gain medals, not to show its power, not even to be proud but to give itself a good

image which would help the country to win respect in the international contextthrough the faultless behaviour of its athletes. This participation has not been studied

in depth. In fact, the 1948 Olympics have failed to attract due historical coverageconsidering the importance of the event; possibly because it lacked the political edge

that has characterized other Olympic Games. [3] As a result, most countries, andSpain is no exception, have rarely paid attention to them.

Antonio Alcoba [4] and Juan Fauria [5] have listed, with some differences, mostresults attained by Spanish competitors at the 1948 Olympics in their global studieson Spain’s participation in Olympic history. But neither they nor other authors

have studied the historical dimension of this participation. A comprehensiveapproach to the specific circumstances that determined the evolution of Spain’s

sports policy, especially in the aftermath of the Second World War, will provide afull understanding of the issue.

By 1948, all aspects of life in Spain were under the control of the Secretarıa Generaldel Movimiento. [6] Specifically, the Delegacion Nacional de Deportes (DND) [7] dealt

with sport and led all sporting efforts of Spain. It had the power to appoint themembers of the federations and ‘every social sports organization was forced . . . into a

strict discipline by public authorities and so any attempt of social initiative waspractically suffocated’. [8]

In spite of Spain’s neutrality during the Second World War, chronic shortages

still remained following the end of the Spanish Civil War. So economic constraintswere the main obstacle to Spain’s aspiration to take more athletes to the London

Olympics. [9] Moreover, Franco’s Spain tended to underestimate not the inter-national and political importance of sport but the need for economic resources to

boost it. [10] Despite that, on this occasion, ‘for the first time in history thegovernment will contribute a substantial quantity of money to the satisfactory

preparation of a Spanish team to participate in the Olympics’. [11]In February 1946, London was awarded the 1948 Olympic Games. [12] The

Spanish press received the news without giving it excessive importance. In fact,

newspapers carried only a small headline among minor news items about localsporting events. [13] The general interest about the event was not important before

June 1948.

Great Britain is Not an Enemy Any More

Juan Alvarez de Cienfuegos, the special correspondent in London for Alfil,the Spanish News Agency, [14] wrote in Marca on the first day of the Olympic

Games:

Everything finally comes in our world. The Second World War has barely finishedand athletes have agreed to the resumption of the Olympic Games. Many of them

Spain and the 1948 Olympics 1081

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were pessimistic, thinking that due to the war’s effects they would have to wait tillthe XVth Olympiad in 1952. But the British have always showed an enormousspirit of organization and together with their great sportsmanship and the urge toexalt Great Britain, this has enabled the celebration of the games that we willwitness very soon. [15]

This text sums up perfectly the opinion in Spain in those days. The prevailing attitude

of animosity, quite clear early in the 1940s, towards Great Britain and the Allies soonturned to admiration and respect, mainly for political reasons, following the end of

the Second World War. In fact, this change of attitude is really important to anyunderstanding of Spanish politics during Franco’s rule.

Ramon Serrano Suner had been Franco’s right-hand man since 1938. As long as he

maintained power, Serrano controlled the media and the party. A devoted fascist anda known Germanophile, he gave Italy and especially Germany a prominent position

in the press, whereas Great Britain and the Allies remained underprivileged even afterhis move from the Home Office to Foreign Affairs in 1940. Government instructions

to the press show that preference quite clearly. In 1940 the Delegacion Nacional dePrensa, in charge of censorship, ordered the media ‘to intensify propaganda about the

taking over of the Italian press attache’ [16] and ‘to diminish the number of newsitems coming from Great Britain on military operations against Italy’. [17] In 1941,

the Vicesecretarıa de Educacion Popular, the new organization that controlled thepress, authorized newspapers ‘to publish only information on Russia proceedingfrom Berlin’. [18] British or French articles had to be amended following German

orders before being published. They had ‘to be affectionate’ towards Italy ‘but notoverdo military exploits’. [19] Newspapers had to abstain from comments or

opinions ‘that could entail criticism of the German people’ [20] and censorswere ordered to forbid ‘advertisements which could be considered to be English

propaganda’. [21]In 1942, Serrano Suner was replaced by Francisco Gomez Jordana. A monarchist

and Anglophile, he was an army officer who guaranteed neutrality. ‘Once the lastpro-Nazi ballast had disappeared, censorship was able to change its position’ and thepress was able to start paying attention to the Allies. [22] Almost immediately the

change of opinion on the Allies was evident, mainly because Great Britain andthe United States had threatened to restrict supplies of petrol. In January, the

newspapers were ordered to ‘be extremely careful’ about how they treated the Alliesand to ‘moderate their headlines’. [23] The official Spanish position on Great Britain

continued to change throughout 1943 as the Allies became more and more confidentof their victory.

It was not until just before the Normandy landings that the Spanish policydefinitely turned, in the face of the most likely defeat of the Axis powers and as a

result of international economic pressure. Jose Felix de Lequerica, who had beenSpanish Ambassador to France and the United States, took over the Foreign Office in1944. During the last months of the war, a pro-American attitude gained ground to

the detriment of Japan, which became the new Spanish enemy. Newspapers were

1082 A. Viuda-Serrano

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ordered to ‘not publish any more information coming from Japan’ and to ‘emphasizethe courage of the Allies and their victories in the Pacific’. [24]

After the war, Franco’s Spain tried to justify its position and to define itself as aCatholic regime, leaving the pro-fascist symbols behind. This fact was evident in

sporting events and mostly in football matches, since the image of Spain had beenseriously damaged in the international context by the political use of the national

team. [25] Newspapers tried to ‘point out the efforts of the United States and GreatBritain to defeat Japan’ and ‘how that victory favoured Western and Christian

culture’, to which Spain most certainly belonged. [26] That is to say, a totalitarianSpain benefited from the rout of the European totalitarian regimes. The completeturnabout of Franco’s policies had been accomplished. The process of identifying

Spain with the Catholic Church to gain international acceptance culminated in theappointment of Alberto Martın Artajo as Foreign Affairs Minister in 1945. This ultra-

Catholic legal technocrat managed to rescue Spain from its ostracism and in the1950s he even succeeded in creating a Concordat between Spain and the Holy See,

signing a pact with the United States and making it possible for Spain to become amember of the United Nations.

In December 1946, Spain had been expelled from every internationalorganization and the United Nations had suggested that ambassadors be

withdrawn. The United Kingdom Ambassador to Spain, Sir Victor Mallet, wasactually recalled. But far from considering a total breakdown of relations, GreatBritain signed a commercial agreement with Spain in March 1947. So by 1948 the

situation was not totally back to normal but in the process of getting there. Thebest sign of all was that Spain was formally invited to participate in the London

Olympics.

The Spanish Olympic Committee and its Political Use

The date of the creation of the Spanish Olympic Committee (SOC) [27] is, evennowadays, subject to question. The first Spanish committee was founded in 1905by the Marquis of Cabrinana in order to organize Spain’s participation in the

1906 Intermediate Olympic Games. [28] This committee did not last long andmore or less disappeared around 1906. On the other hand, the Marquis of

Villamejor tried to create another committee, instigated by Pierre de Coubertinhimself, which was finally born in 1912. [29] In 1924, it was officially recognized

by the International Olympic Committee [30] and in 1926, the statutes of thecommittee were approved.

In the years that followed, there was a period of inactivity, except for the strengthof Barcelona, the Spanish sporting city, which presented its candidacy to host the

Olympic Games in 1924, 1936 and 1940. [31] It held the IOC meeting of 1931, underthe presidency of Count de Baillet-Latour. None of these games were awarded toBarcelona, but ‘it was intended to celebrate a popular Olympic Games as an anti-

fascist protest against the Olympic Games in Berlin in July 1936’. [32] This project


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was ended by the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War the day before the openingceremony. [33]

After the Civil War, the SOC became controlled by the regime. It wasreconstituted in November 1937 and recognized by the IOC. In August 1938 the

Ministry of National Education introduced a decree that conferred on the SOCthe capacity to lead Spanish sports ‘according to our nation’s needs and

following the government’s guidelines’. [34] It appointed a military man at itshead, General Jose Moscardo Ituarte, replacing Santiago Guell y Lopez, Baron of

Guell and Fernando Suarez de Tangil y Angulo, Count of Vallellano, the Spanishmembers of the IOC. In 1941, the DND was created. The control and promotionof sport was entrusted to the only political party, the Falange Espanola

Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacionalsindicalista (FET y de lasJONS). The DND replaced the SOC and assumed its functions – ‘to organize

Spain’s participation in the Olympics’ and ‘to represent Spanish sports in theIOC’. [35] Political control made it impossible for the SOC to act autonomously.

This was the situation when the London Olympics began.

Planning and Preparing Participation in the Games

In April 1947, official invitations were dispatched to 53 nations to participate in theLondon Olympics, including Spain. [36] The invitation, ‘which portrayed an athleterunning with the Olympic Torch’, was ‘drawn by Mr J.E. Slater’ and was sent to Spain

through Domingo de las Barcenas, the Spanish Ambassador in the United Kingdom.[37] The wording was as follows:

On the instructions of the International Olympic Committee which has chosenthe city of London for the celebration of the Olympic Games in 1948,the Organising Committee for the XIVth 1948 London Olympics has thehonour to invite you to take part in the competitions and celebrations to beheld at Wembley Stadium in that year from 29th July to 14th August inclusive.[38]

Spain decided to participate in the Olympics around the middle of 1947 and began aprocess to decide what sports were the most appropriate for Spanish possibilities and

budget:

Our National [Sports] Delegation, as Spanish Olympic Committee, accepted theinvitation [to take part in the London Olympics] with the appropriate andcompulsory previous permission of the highest authorities and got in touchwith the relevant Federations in the Olympic programme to prepare and carryout a suitable plan of action and an estimated budget including all the expensesof preparation and attendance to the London Olympiad. [39]

The first official notice of 1948 from the DND to all the Spanish federations, dated

18 February, gave an account of a gathering held on 17 February and asked them for


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their thoughts on which sports would represent Spain in the London Olympics. Theywere asked for their opinions on

The number of likely participants . . . The estimated number of federative officials. . . The required imported material for training . . . The amount of money that theFederations would need . . . A detailed list of foreign teams to come to Spain forpre-Olympic international meetings . . . Supplementary food and wine for theathletes . . . The opinion on whether to travel to Great Britain by train and ship . . .or by plane . . . Adequate arrival date at the Olympics training centres. [40]

At the meeting, the DND officials exchanged ideas with the members of thefederations’ boards. Each federation (modern pentathlon, swimming, boxing,

rowing, basketball, fencing, gymnastics, equestrian, hockey, wrestling, shootingand yachting) explained its plans for the forthcoming months. [41] The football and

cycling federations were excluded from the process because ‘the presidents’ reports ofthe respective federations had advised against participation in the Olympics. [42]

The case of football had a special importance in Spain. In fact, during the Francoyears, ‘football served a double function: it demonstrated Spanish unity, so important

for the nationalists after the Civil War and it created the culture of evasion, thechance to talk about something other than the war, economic problems, lack of

freedom, police brutality’. [43] Some bad results for the Spanish national footballteam during the previous two years had put the football federation on the spot. In1945, Spain played its first two international matches after the Second World War

against Portugal, ‘likewise a semi-fascist country under the dictatorial rule of Salazar’,[44] getting a draw in Lisbon and a victory in La Coruna. However, in June 1946,

Ireland defeated Spain in Madrid; in January 1947, Spain lost against Portugal inLisbon; and in March 1947, it was again defeated by Ireland in Dublin. [45] The crisis

saw the dismissal of the president, Jesus Rivero Meneses, and several members of thefootball federation. In May 1947, Armando Munoz Calero, Falangist, member of the

Blue Division [46] and an Anglophobe, was appointed president along with a newvice-president, Eulogio Aranguren Labairu. A new treasurer, Juan Touzon Jurjo, wasalso appointed as well as two more members, Luis Olaso Anabitarte and Agustın

Aznar Jenner. [47]In such a situation, Guillermo Eizaguirre Olmos, the national football manager,

had been asked to prepare a football report in June 1947 and to examine the realpossibilities of taking part in the Olympic tournament. [48] Some headlines appeared

in the newspapers in November 1947 saying that Spain was among the 22 countriesthat would participate in the Olympic football tournament. [49] However, Spain did

not compete in the football, mainly because the federation was in a ‘process ofreconstruction’, [50] and even though the national team defeated Portugal in March

1948 in Madrid.The athletics federation was not present at this meeting but a national team was

organized to compete in the Olympics. The athletics national championship was held

in Aviles, a city in the north of Spain, and Olympic athletes were selected after this


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competition by the manager, Diego Ordonez. They then remained in Aviles to trainuntil the date of departure. [51]

Lieutenant Colonel Gonzalez de Mendoza represented the fencing federation at themeeting and trusted that ‘after the contests of sabre and sword, we will find talents to

select’. The fencing federation had not held its national championship because ofthe lack of fencers: some regions had not been able to hold their championships.

A seeding tournament was planned ‘to train the team that will take part in theOlympics and, if not advisable, to select the fencers that will individually attend the

international events representing our federation and our country’. [52] A committeecreated with representatives of the DND, the fencing federation and the School ofPhysical Education of Toledo would select the athletes. It was decided the foil fencers

would be rejected due to their lack of fitness. The tournament was scheduled for29 March but was eventually cancelled and fencing was removed from the list of

Olympic sports in which Spain would participate.Lieutenant Colonel Joaquın Vierna Belando, president of the Gymnastics

Federation, pointed out to the meeting that the current difficulties were damaginghis confidence in the future. Early in January 1948, Vierna had commented on ‘the

important decline’ in his sport ‘due to the lack of gymnasia’ and the difficult life of‘the Spanish Royal Society of Gymnastics, with no headquarters and about to

disappear’. [53] Gymnastics was also excluded from the Spanish delegation going toLondon.

The Wrestling Federation was represented by itspresident, Agustın Ripoll

Urdapilleta. He wanted between four and six good athletes to do well in theOlympics. After the national championship for amateurs, planned to be held in

March, ‘the Olympic selection will begin to designate one wrestler in each categoryand his substitute, so as to carry out intensive training before selecting the team

which will represent us in the London Olympic Games’. [54] It was not possible toput together a team and wrestling was also rejected.

The Spanish Basketball Federation, whose participation would also eventually berejected, was represented by its president, Lieutenant Colonel Jesus Querejeta Pavon.He explained that the team had combined Olympic preparation and national events.

They would work in educational gymnasia and measure up to Holland and Portugal.The initial planning was decided in August 1947, studying the training plan for the

Spanish basketball team and the possibility of holding international tournamentswith Belgium and Italy in autumn. [55]

The Spanish Modern Pentathlon Federation’s vice-president, Major FedericoYngles Selles, announced on 17 February that the national team, consisting of six

officers, was going through intensive training with two to four events daily.Swimming and fencing were practised every day and running, equestrianism and

shooting on alternate days. After the national championships, held in Madrid andToledo, ‘the top eight have been selected by the national manager for Olympictraining. The athletes previously gathered in Madrid to be trained as coaches will join

them.’ [56] It was Major Yngles who selected the Olympic competitors.


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Julio Alvarez Builla, member of the Spanish Swimming Federation (whichincluded swimming, diving and water polo), informed the gathering on 17 February

that a training programme would start during March in Madrid under the directsupervision of the national manager, Enrique Ugarte Pascual. The federation’s

members held a meeting on 13 and 14 December 1947 to approve the 1948 calendar.The team would participate in several international events for pre-Olympic

preparation against Austria in May, Great Britain in June (water polo only) andBelgium in July. [57] Each selected swimmer trained in his home city and all of them

finally met with the national manager in Madrid on 25 July.The Spanish Boxing Federation member, Major Enrique de Ocerın, explained on

17 February his plan to take part in international events in Belgium, Holland and

Luxembourg and perhaps in Switzerland, Italy or France during the months prior tothe Olympics. Boxing was one of the first sports to begin its pre-Olympic

organization. In November 1947 it held the national championships in Madrid,where experts had ‘the chance to check out the actual situation of our boxing at this

moment of pre-Olympic interest’. [58] During the following months, the boxingauthorities would select a big group of non-professional boxers as the basis of a long

selection process. Fabian Vicente del Valle created three different teams with threeboxers for each category (24 boxers). He discarded four some weeks later and after

international tournaments against Ireland and Belgium discarded six more. The 14remaining boxers met in Madrid, in the ‘Casa de Campo’ facilities, from 15 Juneonwards to prepare for the Olympics. [59]

Salvador Garreta Roca, member of the Spanish Rowing Federation, announced atthe February meeting that the team’s preparation would be held in Tarragona and

Barcelona, the two main cities of Catalonia, and that the next regional events wouldbe used to choose the Olympic team members. The team would compete against

Portugal and Italy as part of its training and pre-Olympic trials would be held tochoose the final Spanish rowing team. The appointment of Jose Martınez Llobet as

the national manager completed the plan of the Rowing Federation. [60] In the firstdays of July 1948, the participation of the Spanish rowing team was withdrawn [61]but one oarsman (Juan Omedes Calonja) was finally selected to go to London.

The Spanish Equestrian Federation, directed by General Sandoval, was consideredto be successful and to have a very promising future. Horses and riders would be in

London in advance of the games in order to get used to the weather conditions. Aftersuccess in the 1928 Olympics, [62] the Spanish authorities had high hopes of winning

a medal with the equestrian team. Major Cabanillas Prosper welcomed them to theMilitary Academy of Burgos, one of the most important cities in Spain at the time,

and they trained in the nearby sports facilities from 14 July. [63]Juan Manuel Sainz de los Terreros, a member of the Hockey Federation, pointed to

three main centres from which players might be recruited: Madrid, Barcelona andBilbao. International meetings with Italy, Belgium, and France were scheduled. Earlyin November 1947, the federation held its first tournaments against Holland and

Switzerland as part of the pre-Olympic preparation of the national team. [64] Javier


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Arbide, national manager, gathered a large group of players in Madrid during June1948 and after a hard training programme he chose 15 players for the Olympic

team – seven from Madrid, seven from Barcelona and one from the Basque Country.[65] They met in Madrid, in the ‘Real Club de Puerta de Hierro’ from 22 July. [66]

Jose de Linos, vice-president of the Spanish Shooting Federation, organized theteam after the national championship and international contests against Portugal,

Italy and France. On 17 February, he stressed the current difficulties in importingfirearms and ammunition and in obtaining the necessary permits. The final selection

of shooters for the Olympics took place in Madrid on 2 July, in the ‘Ciudad Lineal’field, where seven of 13 possible candidates were chosen for the Olympic team. [67]

At the 17 February meeting, the president of the Yachting Federation, Pedro J. de

Galındez, asked that four ‘dinghies’ be imported for training and stated that theexpectations were excellent, since the World Championship would be held in Spain

that August. On 17 March, the yachting team was constituted by the DND so that inJuly there would be pre-Olympic trials to decide the participants, giving a vote of

confidence to Mr. Galındez ‘to organize the selection of the Spanish competitors whowill participate in the XIV Olympics in London, ‘‘star’’ and ‘‘dinghy’’ classes, fixing 3,

4 and 5 July as the dates to hold selection trials in the port of Santander’. [68]The DND even planned to create a team that would participate in the arts

competitions that would take place during the London Olympics. In January 1948, itwas announced that ‘every Spanish artist who wants to participate should present hiswork to the Secretary of the DND-Spanish Olympic Committee (Serrano 22, Madrid)

during the month of February. . . . The appointed panel of judges will select the worksthat will be sent to London.’ [69] In the event, Spain did not send any work to the

Olympics.In February 1948 Spain had declared its intention to participate in 14 sports:

athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, equestrian, fencing, gymnastics, hockey,modern pentathlon, rowing, shooting, swimming, wrestling and yachting. [70]

Finally it was decided, at a meeting of the governing committee of the DND held onJune 7, on ‘the definitive enrolment in the Olympic Games, within the date fixed bythe Organizing Committee, in nine sports, without the certainty of attendance in

some of them. The registration has been dispatched for hockey, equestrian, boxing,modern pentathlon, athletics, swimming, rowing, shooting and yachting.’ [71]

In fact, the aforesaid date was really fixed by the organizing committee ‘on 16 June1948 (six weeks before the opening of the Games)’ in the case of the so-called

‘national entry form’ on which each nation had to indicate the sports and events inwhich it intended to take part. Two weeks before the beginning of each sport, nations

had to send their ‘team entry form’ for every event that the nation was entering, andthe ‘individual entry form’, giving the full name, place and date of birth of each

participant. [72]As seen above, the precise selection mechanisms used to select competitors for the

London Olympics depended on each federation. The final decision was in the hands

of the DND, like every other matter related to sport: ‘The DND, in its capacity of


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SOC, approved the definitive teams of the nine sports’ and designated ‘the officialswho will go to London in charge of the teams’. [73] It was said that by July the DND

had already sent the definitive list of Spanish swimmers to the organizing committee.This was before the national championships, held in Barcelona from 8 to 11 July,

that were supposedly going to be the basis for selection of the team going to theOlympics. [74]

On the Way to London

The Spanish contingent of athletes, coaches and officials was divided into three mainparties. [75] All of them travelled to London by plane, except the yachting team who

made the trip from Bilbao on 20 July in a motor cruiser whose owner, Pedro J. deGalındez y Vallejo, was the president of the Spanish Yachting Federation. [76] These

competitors were to stay in the Richmond camp, like all the Olympic athletes whoarrived in London at an early date. Richmond Park was the only housing centre open

for pre-Olympic occupation on 10 June. As other centres opened their doors, manyathletes were moved there. [77] The Spanish yachting team was transferred to

Torquay on 27 July. Juan Omedes Calonja was the only Spanish oarsman at theOlympics because the four-person outrigger canoe was finally rejected by the DND.

He travelled on 17 July to Geneva to train with the Swiss rowing team, [78] withwhom he then travelled to London by sea on board a Dutch ship and arrived on 31July. [79]

On 26 July, the first Spanish party, consisting of the modern pentathlon, equestrianand shooting teams, flew to London via Geneva and Amsterdam. [80] Guillermo

Hildebrand, president of the Federations Department of the DND and GeneralSandoval, the Spanish Equestrian Federation president, went to see them off. They

were met at London airport by Francisco Cadenas, secretary of the DND, who hadarrived in London on 12 July, and the Spanish Olympic Attache, Jose Brugada y

Wood.The officers of the equestrian and modern pentathlon teams were taken to the

Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, which had been placed at the disposal of the

organizing committee by the British War Office. It was somewhat distant fromAldershot, where the equestrian and modern pentathlon arena was located, but the

organizing committee could not find better accommodation for riders. [81] The 20selected horses had already arrived by sea at Folkestone on 23 July, after being

transported by road through France. The Spanish Military Attache in London,Joaquın de Isasi-Isasmendi, met the animals and inspected them after arrival. The

shooting team was taken to Bisley Camp, home of the National Rifle Association,where the shooting competitions would take place. The Spanish shooters’ permits for

using firearms, which were compulsory in Great Britain, were seriously delayed by thegovernment’s police commissioners, newspapers reported. [82]

On 27 July, the largest part of the Spanish delegation of 43 athletes, swimmers and

water polo players arrived in London from Madrid on a direct KLM flight. [83]


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Several Spanish sporting dignitaries were also on the plane: the chef de mission,General Moscardo, the head of the DND and president of the SOC, Jose Marıa

Gutierrez del Castillo, the chief of FET y de las JONS Sports Department, AntonioVictory Rojas, the national financial manager of the DND, Alberto Martın Fernandez,

the chief of the DND’s Press and Propaganda Committee, Manuel Valdes, thevice-secretary of departments of the party, and some members of the Spanish

federations: presidents Joaquın Vierna Belando (gymnastics), Agustın RipollUrdapilleta (wrestling) and Jesus Querejeta Pavon (basketball).

The athletes were taken to the Richmond Park camp by bus. After visitingRichmond along with the competitors, the officials went to Cavendish Square, wherethe Spanish Club – a meeting point for emigrant Spaniards, founded in 1920 – was

located. It was non-partisan, but women were not admitted. The club had a bar, arestaurant and some rooms for accommodating the Spanish sport authorities during

the London Olympics. [84]On 28 July the boxing and hockey teams, the last group to travel, arrived in

London on a KLM flight from Madrid and all were accommodated in RichmondPark, the biggest housing centre for athletes in the London area. Spain and most of

the Latin-American countries were accommodated there.Other officials such as Baron of Guell or the Count of Vallellano, as Spanish

members of the IOC; Colonel Ricardo Villalba Rubio, chief of the DND’s MilitarySports Department, and Marıa de Miranda, the Women’s Section’s Head of PhysicalEducation, arrived in London independently. Villalba and Miranda, along with Luis

Agosti, the national adviser for physical education, attended the InternationalCongress on Physical Education held in London in July. [85]

Spanish Competitors and Spectators in the Games

On 29 July the opening ceremony inaugurated the Olympic Games. [86] Spain

marched in 49th position, between South Africa and Sweden, in alphabetical orderaccording to English spelling. The Spanish team entered Wembley Stadium at 15.38p.m. A Boy Scout led the team carrying a board with the name of Spain. Five metres

behind him, Fabian Vicente del Valle, the boxing team manager was the Spanish flag-bearer and a further five metres behind them marched the officials of the SOC and

finally, all the athletes, with the ones who were from the army first. They wore whitetrousers and blue jackets, except for the military men who were in uniform. [87]

Spain was going to demonstrate its power.However, Spanish sportsmen gave a rather poor performance in London (see

Table 1). Expectations had not been high since the authorities declared from thebeginning that Spain went to the games primarily to participate. [88] But the

newspapers had tended to exaggerate the athletes’ attainments or at least to diminishthe importance of any defeats. Thus Marca wrote this headline on 31 July: ‘TheSpanish teams have given a good performance on the first day of competition’. On

that day, in the swimming pool, Isidoro Perez, Manuel Guerra and Jesus Domınguez


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Tab

le1

Res

ult

so

fSp

anis

hco

mp

etit

ors

atth

e19

48L

on

do

nO

lym

pic

s

SPO

RT

OF

FIC

IAL

SSP

OR

TSM

EN

RE

SUL

TS

AT

HL

ET

ICS

DE

LE

GA

TE

:Jo

aqu

ınA

gull

aJi

men

ez-C

oro

nad

oD

EL

EG

AT

E:

Man

uel

Segu

rad

oG

uer

raM

AN

AG

ER

:D

iego

Ord

on

ezA

rcau

teC

OA

CH

:A

lber

toP

aolo

ne

Juan

Bau

tist

aA

dar

raga

Eli

zara

n1.

500

(hea

t2)

:8;

800

(hea

t3)

:7

Ped

roA

pel

lan

izZ

arra

gaJa

veli

n:

13F

elix

Era

uzq

uin

Era

uzq

uin

Dis

cus:

19C

on

stan

tin

oM

iran

da

Just

oD

anie

lP

oya

nD

ıaz

Gre

gori

oR

ojo

Sagr

ado

Man

uel

Suar

ezM

ole

zun

En

riq

ue

Vil

lap

lan

aV

arga

s

10.0

00(fi

nal

):20

;3.

000

stee

ple

chas

e(fi

nal

):11

1.50

0(h

eat

3):

910

.000

(fin

al):

26;

5.00

0(h

eat

2):

611

0h

urd

les

(hea

t3)

:3

50km

road

wal

k(fi

nal

):9

BO

XIN

GD

EL

EG

AT

E:

Jose

Go

mez

-Her

rero

Tab

aner

aM

AN

AG

ER

:F

abia

nV

icen

ted

elV

alle

CO

AC

H:

Jose

Co

mas

Mat

euR

EF

ER

EE

:Ju

anC

asan

ova

sG

aro

lera

RE

FE

RE

E:

Juan

Cer

vera

Mu

roR

EF

ER

EE

:Ju

lian

Ris

oto

Mar

tos

RE

FE

RE

E:

Juan

Jose

Lad

ron

de

Gu

evar

a

Agu

stın

Arg

ote

Mar

qu

ınez

Ale

jan

dro

Art

ech

eZ

uri

nag

a(s

ub

stit

ute

)Ig

nac

ioA

sen

sio

San

jose

(su

bst

itu

te)

Lig

htw

eigh

t,ro

un

d1:

bea

ten

by

Bo

ull

osa

Lig

ht-

hea

vyw

eigh

t,ro

un

d1:

bea

ten

by

L’H

ost

eH

ed

idn

ot

par

tici

pat

eJo

seB

oro

nd

o(s

ub

stit

ute

)H

ed

idn

ot

par

tici

pat

eF

eder

ico

Car

bo

nel

lV

ila

He

did

no

tp

arti

cip

ate

Au

reli

oD

ıaz

Cad

abed

a(s

ub

stit

ute

)W

elte

rwei

ght,

rou

nd

3:b

eate

nb

yT

orm

aG

rego

rio

Mar

ınR

od

rıgu

ezH

ed

idn

ot

par

tici

pat

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uis

Mar

tın

ezZ

apat

aJa

ime

Oli

ver

Fro

nte

raJo

seA

rtu

roR

ub

ioF

ern

and

ezF

elip

eV

erd

uB

elen

Alv

aro

Vic

ente

Do

men

ech

Fly

wei

ght,

rou

nd

3:b

eate

nb

yB

and

inel

liM

idd

lew

eigh

t,ro

un

d1:

bea

ten

by

Fah

imH

eavy

wei

ght,

rou

nd

1:b

eate

nb

yIg

lesi

asF

eath

erw

eigh

t,ro

un

d2:

bea

ten

by

Ker

sch

bau

mer

Ban

tam

wei

ght,

sem

ifin

al:

bea

ten

by

Zu

das

(con

tin

ued

over

leaf)


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Tab

le1.

(Con

tin

ued

)

SPO

RT

OF

FIC

IAL

SSP

OR

TSM

EN

RE

SUL

TS

EQ

UE

STR

IAN

DE

LE

GA

TE

:A

nto

nio

Art

alej

oC

amp

os

MA

NA

GE

R:

Jose

Mar

ıaC

aban

illa

sP

rosp

er

Jaim

eG

arcı

aC

ruz

Mar

celi

no

Gav

ilan

yP

on

ced

eL

eon

Fer

nan

do

Gaz

apo

de

Sarr

aga

Car

los

Kir

kpat

rick

O’D

on

nel

lSa

nti

ago

Mar

tın

ezL

arra

zJo

seN

avar

roM

ore

nes

Joaq

uın

No

guer

asM

arq

uez

Pri

xd

esN

atio

ns:

5(i

nd

ivid

ual

);Si

lver

(tea

ms)

Pri

xd

esN

atio

ns:

16(i

nd

ivid

ual

);Si

lver

(tea

ms)

Th

ree-

day

even

t:26

(in

div

idu

al);

5(t

eam

s)D

ress

age:

14(i

nd

ivid

ual

)T

hre

e-d

ayev

ent:

29(i

nd

ivid

ual

);5

(tea

ms)

Pri

xd

esN

atio

ns:

10(i

nd

ivid

ual

);Si

lver

(tea

ms)

Th

ree-

day

even

t:5

(in

div

idu

al);

5(t

eam

s)

HO

CK

EY

DE

LE

GA

TE

:Ju

anM

anu

elSa

inz

de

los

Ter

rero

sM

AN

AG

ER

:P

auli

no

Mar

tın

Gar

cıa

CO

AC

H:

Javi

erA

rbid

eA

llen

de

Man

uel

Agu

stı

Pey

po

chP

reli

min

ary

rou

nd

s,gr

ou

pA

:4

(Sp

ain

2-

Arg

enti

na

3;Sp

ain

1-

Au

stri

a1;

Ind

ia2

-Sp

ain

0)Ja

ime

All

end

eM

aız

Ric

ard

oC

abo

tB

oix

Juan

del

Cam

po

Est

eban

En

riq

ue

Est

eban

ezV

ela

Ped

roF

arre

ras

Val

entı

Ped

roG

asse

tP

arri

lla

Ed

uar

do

Jard

on

Ro

nF

ern

and

oJa

rdo

nR

on

Fra

nci

sco

Jard

on

Ro

nL

uis

Pra

tmar

soP

erer

aM

anu

elR

oye

sB

oh

igas

Raf

ael

Ru

izG

ijo

nE

nri

qu

eSa

inz

Ort

uet

aM

artı

nSo

leD

ura

n

(con

tin

ued

over

leaf)


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Tab

le1.

(Con

tin

ued

)

SPO

RT

OF

FIC

IAL

SSP

OR

TSM

EN

RE

SUL

TS

MO

DE

RN

PE

NT

AT

HL

ON

DE

LE

GA

TE

:F

eder

ico

Yn

gles

Sell

esM

AN

AG

ER

:E

nri

qu

eG

aste

siB

arre

iro

Man

uel

Ber

nab

euP

rad

aIn

div

idu

al:

36A

lber

toM

ore

ira

Lo

pez

Ind

ivid

ual

:22

Jose

Lu

isR

iera

Cab

alle

rIn

div

idu

al:

26F

eder

ico

Yn

gles

Sell

es(s

ub

stit

ute

)H

ed

idn

ot

par

tici

pat

e

RO

WIN

GD

EL

EG

AT

E:

Jaim

eR

ose

tC

lua

MA

NA

GE

R:

Salv

ado

rG

arre

taR

oca

Juan

Om

edes

Cal

on

jaSi

ngl

esc

ull

s,ro

un

d1

(hea

t3)

:3;

rep

ech

age

(hea

t1)

:2

SHO

OT

ING

MA

NA

GE

R:

Jose

de

Lin

os

Lag

eJo

seA

lon

soSi

ller

o25

met

rera

pid

fire

pis

tol:

46Jo

seM

anu

elA

nd

oın

To

rral

vo50

met

resm

all

bo

reri

fle:

64P

eleg

rın

Est

eve

Mag

net

25m

etre

rap

idfi

rep

isto

l:58

An

gel

Leo

nG

oza

lo50

met

rep

isto

l:6

Lu

isP

alo

mo

Pu

jol

Cri

sto

bal

Tau

ler

Alo

s50

met

rep

isto

l:38

;25

met

rera

pid

fire

pis

tol:

1750

met

resm

all

bo

reri

fle:

62

SWIM

MIN

GD

EL

EG

AT

E:

Ber

nar

do

Pic

orn

ell

Ric

hie

raM

AN

AG

ER

:E

nri

qu

eU

gart

eP

ascu

alC

OA

CH

:F

ern

and

oF

lore

zP

laza

RE

FE

RE

E:

Ro

ber

toSe

rin

aZ

arau

z

Ale

jan

dro

Feb

rero

Lo

ren

zoF

ran

cisc

oC

alam

ita

Go

nza

lez

Jesu

sD

om

ıngu

ezG

arcı

aM

anu

elG

uer

raP

erez

Isid

oro

Mar

tın

ezF

erry

Isid

oro

Per

ezG

on

zale

z

400

free

,ro

un

d1

(hea

t1)

:5;

1.50

0fr

ee,

rou

nd

1(h

eat

1):

410

0b

ack,

rou

nd

1(h

eat

1):

410

0fr

ee,

rou

nd

1(h

eat

4):

3;1.

500

free

,ro

un

d1

(hea

t5)

:6

100

free

,ro

un

d1

(hea

t2)

:4;

100

bac

k,ro

un

d1

(hea

t4)

:6

400

free

,ro

un

d1

(hea

t4)

:4;

1.50

0fr

ee,

rou

nd

1(h

eat

4):

410

0fr

ee,

rou

nd

1(h

eat

1):

6;40

0fr

ee,

rou

nd

1(h

eat

5):

5

(con

tin

ued

over

leaf)


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Tab

le1.

(Con

tin

ued

)

SPO

RT

OF

FIC

IAL

SSP

OR

TSM

EN

RE

SUL

TS

WA

TE

R-P

OL

OD

EL

EG

AT

E:

Ber

nar

do

Pic

orn

ell

Ric

hie

raM

AN

AG

ER

:Jo

aqu

ınM

ore

raP

uja

lsC

OA

CH

:B

and

iZ

oly

om

iR

EF

ER

EE

:T

om

asB

atal

le

Fra

nci

sco

Cas

till

oC

aup

ena

Sem

ifin

al:

4(S

wed

en4

-Sp

ain

1;H

oll

and

5-

Spai

n2;

Bel

giu

m4

-Sp

ain

1)C

arlo

sF

alp

Mo

nt

Car

los

Mar

tıA

ren

asA

gust

ınM

estr

esR

ivas

Jose

pO

rio

lP

ujo

lC

om

aA

nge

lSa

bat

aF

iga

Val

entı

nSa

bat

erM

asF

eder

ico

Salv

ado

res

Po

yan

Juan

Serr

aL

lob

et

YA

CH

TIN

GD

EL

EG

AT

E:

Man

uel

San

sM

ora

MA

NA

GE

R:

Ped

roJ.

de

Gal

ınd

ezy

Val

lejo

Jose

Lu

isA

llen

de

(su

bst

itu

te)

Star

clas

s,fi

nal

:9

Jose

Mar

ıaA

lon

soA

llen

de

Star

clas

s,fi

nal

:9

Juan

Man

uel

Alo

nso

All

end

eF

irefl

ycl

ass,

fin

al:

19E

du

ard

oA

znar

yC

ost

aSt

arcl

ass,

fin

al:

9R

amo

nB

alce

lls

(su

bst

itu

te)

He

did

no

tp

arti

cip

ate


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failed to qualify for the final of 100 metres, Juan B. Adarraga did not qualify for thefinal of the 800 metres, Constantino Miranda and Gregorio Rojo finished 20th and

26th in the 10,000 metres and the Spanish water polo team was beaten by Sweden 4–1. On 8 August, Marca wrote: ‘Three Spanish boxers succeed in London’ on the

victory of Luis Martınez, Alvaro Vicente and Aurelio Dıaz in their first rounds. On 11August, this headline was published in El Mundo Deportivo: ‘Brilliant performance of

the Spanish Major Kirpatrick O’Connell’. He was in fact 14th of 18 riders in thedressage individual competition. So Spanish people were given the impression that

Spain was doing much better than it really was.Life in London’s camps was quite comfortable for the athletes – billiard and table-

tennis tables, pianos, television and radio sets, cafeterias, canteens, cinemas, banking

and laundry services, barbers’ and tailors’ shops. In Richmond, after dinner, whichthey enjoyed all together, each nation performed a kind of play for amusement.

Adarraga described the Spanish performance as a bullfight, with Adarraga himselfacting as a bull, Apellaniz the picador and Erauzquin the horse. [89] Moreover, they

had the opportunity to spend some days with athletes from all around the world.Spanish sportsmen saw their participation in the games as a great and enjoyable

experience.Since food might be scarce at the Olympics – even though the organizing

committee had received gifts from several nations – those who could afford itbrought their own supplies of food. A Spanish plane took enough food for all themembers of the delegation to London (mainly oil, rice and wine) and on 29 July two

ships from Alicante and Valencia took more food to Liverpool. [90] The Spanishdelegation even took a Basque cook to London to prepare the meals.

Apart from Spaniards living in London at the time of the Olympics, there was asmall number of Spanish citizens who travelled to the British capital unofficially to

enjoy the show. Circular no. 5 of 1947, dated 26 November, from the DND to thefederations stated that ‘the distribution of the tickets to attend Olympic sporting

events will be made only by means of the SOC’. Up to 1 January 1948 the DNDreceived all the requests for tickets from individuals ‘until the quota allocated forSpanish visitors was supplied’.[91] Regarding these quotas, the Organizing

Committee had ‘decided to reserve half the tickets for overseas applications. Thesewere divided between nations according to the estimated requirements, based on

probable team strength, travel facilities, currency problems and national interest inthe Games’. [92] Ticket holders had to secure transport to London as well as the

compulsory passports and exit visas for themselves, requesting the documents fromthe pertinent authorities.

Ration coupons had been used in Spain since the Civil War. In Britainrationing was introduced in 1940 to deal with food and other shortages and

during the Olympics this matter was controlled by the Minister of Food. Spanishvisitors could get a temporary rationing book, although this was not necessaryif they were in a hotel and did not stay in Great Britain for longer than 28

days. [93]


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The Important Thing Was Not Winning but Taking Part: The Use of the Games as

Political Propaganda and its Historical Significance

Spain became aware of the political importance of the London Olympics from the

very beginning. The event was seen as an international opportunity, especiallybecause of Spain’s isolation. In fact with Spain excluded from international

organizations, the London Olympiad was the first relevant world event in which thecountry could participate since 1936. The main instruction given to the Olympic

team was to make a good impression on the other countries because ‘in London, alleyes will be on Spain. Any unfortunate behaviour would be used by the foreignerswho are hostile to our colours and any inadequate behaviour from our athletes would

be pleasing to them.’ [94]On 19 July, the Sports National Delegate, General Moscardo, gave a speech to the

Olympic competitors in his military manner calling on the ‘Pride of Spain’s race’,always so useful in Hispanic culture to motivate the public:

Every Spanish sportsman must give his best performance and the best qualitiesof our race, courage, enthusiasm and vigour, must shine in every moment.I expect and demand that everyone, because they are Spaniards, will not onlydo his duty but will also excel at it, if necessary. . . . They must behave properly,abiding the rules of courtesy and displaying the traditional Spanishgentlemanliness. . . . They must abstain from making statements outside ofsport. . . . No matter what the results, but how honourable the victory is, sincenot winning is not a defeat in sport, although this word has been rarely writtenin our language. [95]

So the important thing was not the final result on the scoreboard but the publicimage displayed to international observers as a means of reinforcing the new Spanish

image built by the regime since the end of the Second World War. The achievementsof the competitors were secondary, although better results would mean a more

relevant role and thus a better image. In fact, Spain’s chances were not good at all.There were not many opportunities to play against international teams at home orabroad as the aforementioned isolation had made it impossible to organize contests

with the majority of nations. Constantino Miranda, the Spanish runner whoparticipated in the 10,000 metres and the 3,000 metres steeplechase, described the

other countries’ athletes as ‘great class runners with much more training andpossibilities than us’ and suggested that ‘Spanish runners should go abroad more

often’. [96]Miranda himself would be the perfect incarnation of the personal qualities

described by Moscardo. The newspapers in Spain wrote about his heroic behaviour inthe 3,000 metres heats on August 3:

Miranda had got the lead at the beginning of the second lap. Siltaloppi, theFinnish athlete, caught Miranda up on the bend and when he was clearing thenext obstacle, Siltaloppi stumbled and fell just in front of our champion. Miranda


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stopped and held out his hand, helped him to get up and they both continuedthe race in the midst of the crowd’s cries to our runner for his sportsmanlikegesture. [97]

It is clear that the Spanish authorities and the DND maintained an unchangingmessage before and after the Olympics, emphasizing the importance of simply taking

part and not winning. They were conscious of the lack of Spanish potential. In thisregard, many declarations, made by different and important men in the Spanish

hierarchy, support this affirmation. The Count of Vallellano, member of the IOC,said that ‘we must aspire to be the first ones at the Olympics but it does not matter ifwe are last if we have done our best to be the first’ [98] and Francisco Cadenas,

secretary of the DND, was very glad to have been invited to the Olympics and saidthat he did ‘not have great expectations’ but that he hoped to make a good

impression ‘despite failure to achieve a medal’. [99]On some occasions, the newspapers were allowed to show their disagreement with

the official stance. The limited attempt at criticism came mainly from Cataloniarather than from Madrid or from the press directly controlled by the party. There

were some complaints about the official decisions on the selection of both sports andcompetitors, such as the case of the rowing team that was finally reduced to one

component (Omedes) or the basketball selection that was rejected despite its positiveinternational experience. [100] Some newspapers from Barcelona complained aboutthe exclusion of Jaime Cruells, a Catalan water polo player who was rejected by the

national manager in favour of Federico Salvadores, a player from Madrid. TheCatalan press felt strongly that Cruells had proved to be in better form than

Salvadores, who was even surprised to be selected! [101] This is just one example ofthe Spanish problem of ‘nationalism versus regionalism’, aggravated by Franco’s

ultra-nationalist policies such as the ban on the use of non-Spanish languages.However, both authorities and newspapers were united in their protests about

some organizational questions after the Olympics. The DND published an officialnotice on 17 August 1948 [102] in which it was said that it ‘would report to the IOCits categorical protest at the almost total exclusion of the Spanish language during the

games’ based on the large number of Spanish-speaking countries. Newspapersreported the problem on several occasions. [103] The DND also protested about ‘the

performance of the boxing referees’ for allegedly wrong decisions during the Londontournament and Marca, the sports newspaper, did the same. [104] They possibly had

more than reasonable grounds for the protest since 37 out of 57 boxing referees weredisqualified during the Olympics. [105]

Conclusion

The presence of Spain in the 1948 London Olympic Games was representative ratherthan participatory. It was a diplomatic mission rather than a sports contest and was

largely the outcome of politics. The event was important because it was seen as an


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international showcase by the Spanish government and was a step further in its policyof rapprochement with the Allies after the Second World War. No one commented

on Germany’s absence from the games. Regarding domestic politics, there were someslight signs of a softening of the suffocating press censorship established after the

Civil War, although only about non-essential issues such as sports. Following thepoor Olympic performances, the federations and sports authorities began to demand

more resources in order to build adequate facilities and develop their activities.Thus Franco’s regime once more showed its adaptability to circumstances and its

ability to survive international changes, maintaining internal political and socialorder. The press had a political mission: on the one hand it praised the qualities ofthe British and on the other exalted the mediocre achievements of the Spanish

athletes as a great success – the international and domestic sides of the same coin. Inthe end, the mission was satisfactorily accomplished. Main political objectives were

achieved because ‘Spain was [at the Olympics] and our flag was respected, just likethe other 60 competing countries’. [106] Sports could wait.

Acknowledgements

Thierry Terret gave me a great opportunity to conduct research on Spain and

the 1948 Olympics. I would like to express my gratitude for his trust. I would liketo thank Juan Bautista Adarraga Leizaran and his kind family for the helpfulinformation about the athletes’ life in Richmond Park. Finally, I would like to give

special thanks to Teresa Gonzalez Aja for her wise advice and guidance.

Notes

[1] Kruger, ‘Strength Through Joy’, 81.[2] Carr, Espana 1808–1975, 677–81.[3] Beck, ‘The British Government and the Olympic Movement’, 616.[4] Alcoba Lopez, Espana en los Juegos Olımpicos, 87–97.[5] Fauria, Las Olimpiadas de Atenas 1896 a Mexico 1968, 249–77.[6] The Secretarıa General del Movimiento was the organization in charge of politics

in the only legal party, Falange Espanola Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de OfensivaNacionalsindicalista.

[7] The National Sports Delegation was created in 1941 under the Falange and it, not thegovernment, to led the sporting efforts of Spain.

[8] Cazorla Prieto, Deporte y Estado, 198.[9] Alcoba Lopez, Espana en los Juegos Olımpicos, 85

[10] Gonzalez Aja, ‘La polıtica deportiva en Espana durante la Republica y el Franquismo’, 185.[11] ‘Memoria de la DND’, 7.[12] ‘Great Britain and Olympism’, 58.[13] La Vanguardia, 15 Feb. 1946; Marca, 15 Feb. 1946; El Mundo Deportivo, 15 Feb. 1946.[14] ‘Alfil’ was the name of the sports section of the Spanish News Agency EFE, re-launched in

1939.[15] J. Alvarez de Cienfuegos, ‘Cinco favoritos -Espana entre ellos – en la competicion hıpica. Los

probables ganadores en las distintas pruebas’, Marca, 30 July 1948.


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[16] Delegacion Nacional de Prensa (hereafter DNP) to newspapers, 3 Oct. 1940, Culture Papers(03) 03-49.01-21/75-1, Archivo General de la Administracion (hereafter AGA), Alcala deHenares, Madrid.

[17] DNP to newspapers, 11 Dec. 1940, 03-49.01-21/75-3, AGA.[17] Vicesecretarıa de Educacion Popular (hereafter VEP) to newspapers, 10 June 1941, 03-49.01-

21/354-1, AGA.[19] VEP to newspapers, 10 June 1941, 03-49.01-21/354-1, AGA.[20] VEP to newspapers, 23 June 1941, 03-49.01-21/354-1, AGA.[21] VEP to newspapers, 22 Oct. 1941, 03-49.01-21/354-1, AGA.[22] Sinova, La censura de Prensa durante el franquismo, 110.[23] VEP to newspapers, 21 Jan. 1942, 03-49.01-21/348-1, AGA.[24] VEP to newspapers, Feb. 1944, quoted in Rıo Cisneros, Viraje polıtico espanol y replica al

cerco internacional, 402.[25] Shaw. Futbol y franquismo, 84–5.[26] VEP to newspapers, Aug. 1945. In Rıo Cisneros, Viraje polıtico espanol y replica al cerco

internacional, 450.[27] From now on the Spanish Olympic Committee was called SOC.[28] Fauria ı Garcia, ‘The Formation of the Spanish Olympic Committee’, 18.[29] Durantez, ‘The Foundation of the Spanish Olympic Committee’.[30] From now on, the International Olympic Committee will be called IOC.[31] Mercader, ‘The Games after Sixty-six years’ Wait’, 100.[32] Pujadas and Santacana, ‘The Popular Olympic Games’, 139.[33] The Peoples’ Olympiad was led by the Catalan Committee for Popular Sports whose embryo

had been the Cultural and Sports Labour Federation that in 1934 adhered to theInternational Sports Red, one of the auxiliary organizations of the Comintern. Gounotaffirms that the idea of organizing popular sports events against the Olympic Games inBerlin was in accordance with Soviet foreign policy although in the end the Peoples’Olympiad became an undertaking of the Spanish republican government.

[34] ‘Decreto de 27 de agosto de 1938 sobre constitucion y reconocimiento del Comite OlımpicoEspanol como Consejo Nacional de Deportes’, 958.

[35] ‘Decreto de 22 de febrero de 1941 por el que se establece la Delegacion Nacional de Deportesde FET y de las JONS’, 1552.

[36] G. Chandler, ‘Espana, invitada a los proximos Juegos Olımpicos de Londres,. La Vanguardia,19 April 1947.

[37] ‘Memoria de la DND’, 6.[38] Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad, 48.[39] ‘Memoria de la DND’, 7.[40] ‘Acuerdos de la Delegacion Nacional de Deportes y de sus organismos integrantes’ (a), 6.[41] ‘La XIV Olimpiada (Londres, 1948)’ (a), 8–9.[42] ‘Memoria de la DND’, 7.[43] Kruger, ‘Strength Through Joy’, 83.[44] Ibid., 84.[45] Fernandez Santander, El futbol durante la guerra civil y el franquismo, 93–5.[46] The ‘Blue Division’, known by that name because of the blue shirts of the Falange uniform,

was a unit of 18,694 Spanish volunteers who served in the German Army against Russiaduring the Second World War (July 1941–November 1943). For Paul Preston (Franco‘Caudillo de Espana’, 481–3), it was an attempt to show Franco’s engagement to the AxisPowers and to avoid declaring war on Great Britain.

[47] ‘Nombramientos. Futbol’, 6.[48] ‘Acuerdos del Comite de Competicion. Futbol’, 9.


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[49] Alfil News Agency, ‘Veintidos naciones – Espana entre ellas – inscritas en el Torneo deFutbol’, La Vanguardia, 8 Nov. 1947.

[50] ‘Nombramientos. Futbol’, 11.[51] ‘Las selecciones nacionales de Hıpica y Atletismo, se preparan’, La Vanguardia, 16 July 1948.[52] ‘Departamento de Federaciones Nacionales. Esgrima’, 14.[53] ‘Gimnasia’, 11.[54] ‘Departamento de Federaciones Nacionales. Luchas’, 23.[55] ‘Departamento de Federaciones Nacionales. Baloncesto’, 3.[56] ‘Competiciones oficiales: Pentalon moderno’, 34–5.[57] ‘Departamento de Federaciones Nacionales. Natacion’, 21.[58] Palomino, ‘Los campeonatos de Espana de boxeo de aficionados’, 2.[59] ‘Catorce boxeadores concentrados en la Casa de Campo’, Marca, 23 July 1948.[60] ‘Concesion de campeonatos’, 24.[61] ‘¿Ha quedado excluida o no la participacion espanola, en remo, en la proxima Olimpiada?’,

El Mundo Deportivo, 8 July 1948.[62] In Amsterdam, Spain won the gold medal in the jumping team competition (Jose Alvarez,

Julio Garcıa and Jose Navarro Morenes).[63] ‘El equipo de hipismo ya se entrena en Burgos’, Marca, 15 July 1948.[64] ‘Acuerdos de la Real Federacion Espanola de Hockey’, 22.[65] ‘Ni Miranda ni Rojo figuran en las ultimas clasificaciones internacionales’, Marca, 9 July

1948.[66] ‘Preparativos olımpicos’, El Mundo Deportivo, 21 July 1948.[67] ‘Ya esta designado el equipo de tiro que ira a la Olimpiada’, Marca, 3 July 1948.[68] ‘Pruebas de seleccion olımpica’, 13.[69] ‘Acuerdos de la Delegacion Nacional de Deportes y de sus organismos integrantes’ (c), 4.[70] ‘La XIV Olimpiada (Londres, 1948)’ (b), 5.[71] ‘Acuerdos de la Delegacion Nacional de Deportes y de sus organismos integrantes’ (b), 3.[72] Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad, 66.[73] ‘Los seleccionados espanoles’, 5.[74] El Mundo Deportivo, 16 July 1948; El Mundo Deportivo, 26 July 1948.[75] The names of all the sportsmen and officials who travelled to London are gathered in the

Boletın Oficial de la Delegacion Nacional de Deportes de FET y de las JONS 64 (1948); ‘Losolımpicos espanoles saldran en tres expediciones’, Marca, 25 July 1948.

[76] El Mundo Deportivo, 29 July 1948.[77] Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad, 159.[78] ‘Omedes no ha salido con direccion a Londres’, Marca, 21 July 1948.[79] ‘Preparativos olımpicos’, El Mundo Deportivo, 25 July 1948.[80] Marca, 28 July 1948; El Mundo Deportivo, 28 July 1948.[81] Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad, 145.[82] ‘Llega la segunda expedicion’, Marca, 28 July 1948.[83] Marca, 28 July 1948; El Mundo Deportivo, 28 July 1948.[84] Pozo-Gutierrez, Emigracion espanola en Inglaterra, 9.[85] ‘Acuerdos de la Delegacion Nacional de Deportes y de sus organismos integrantes’ (e), 3.[86] El Mundo Deportivo, 30 July 1948.[87] Antonio Valencia, ‘Ha nacido una Olimpiada’, Marca, 14 July 1948.[88] ‘Vısperas olımpicas’, 2.[89] Angela Beato, interview with Juan Bautista Adarraga, Onda Cero. 21 July 1996.[90] El Mundo Deportivo, 12 July 1948; El Mundo Deportivo, 30 July 1948.[91] ‘Visitantes particulares a la proxima Olimpiada’, 3–4.[92] Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad, 130.


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[93] ‘La XIV Olimpiada (Londres, 1948)’ (b), 9.[94] ‘Memoria de la DND’, 7.[95] ‘Orden a la mision espanola’, 5; Marca, 21 July 1948.[96] Carlos Pardo, ‘Miranda habla de la final de 10.000 metros’, El Mundo Deportivo, 1 Aug. 1948.[97] ‘Miranda finalista’, El Mundo Deportivo, 4 Aug. 1948; ‘Constantino Miranda en la brecha’, La

Vanguardia, 26 Aug. 1948.[98] ‘La XIV Olimpiada (Londres, 1948)’ (a), 9.[99] ‘Noticiario de los Juegos’, El Mundo Deportivo, 24 July 1948.

[100] F. Fornells, ‘Ningun equipo espanol de remo ira a Londres’, El Mundo Deportivo, 3 July 1948.[101] Vicente Esquiroz, ‘El campeonato de Espana de waterpolo’, El Mundo Deportivo, 18 July

1948.[102] ‘Espana elevara su protesta’, 3.[103] Carlos Pardo, ‘No se habla espanol’ El Mundo Deportivo, 2 Aug. 1948; ‘La Delegacion

Nacional protesta por la casi total exclusion de nuestro idioma de los Juegos’, Marca, 18 Aug.1948.

[104] ‘Irregularidad en los fallos del boxeo olımpico’, Marca, 11 Aug. 1948; ‘Espana sigueperjudicada en boxeo por los fallos arbitrales’, Marca, 12 Aug. 1948.

[105] ‘37 arbitros de boxeo descalificados’, Marca, 12 Aug. 1948.[106] ‘Espana elevara su protesta’, 4.

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a diplomatic mission: spain and the 1948 london olympics

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