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
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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
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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
eL
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)
Spain and the 1948 Olympics 1091
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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
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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
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leaf)
Spain and the 1948 Olympics 1093
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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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