In the 19th-century expansion of leisure time, a wide range of different leisure activities – from the theatre to zoological displays – emerged in response. Urban expansion into suburbs beyond the confines of old city walls afforded space for these pursuits, especially sports. The literary genre of costumisme in the 1860s bore witness to this new trend with texts like Robert Robert’s Un que neda bé. Of all the sporting activities that have been practised in the last century and a half in Catalonia, the focus here is on those that acquired symbolic status because of their association with a Catalan identity. Some of these were of a local or regional nature (horse-pulling, strongman races or rowing competitions), others became more widespread. The Valencian ballgame pilota valenciana, practised since the Middle Ages, is extremely popular in the area, with some players gaining fame and a national significance.

Hiking (including mountain-walking) in Catalonia had clear connections to Romanticism and was closely linked to the Renaixença. More than a mere sporting activity, it had a moral and didactic aim, involving, on one’s travels around the country, observing, studying, and conserving nature, history, art, literature, characteristic customs and popular traditions, and then spreading this knowledge and love of the land. Most leading 19th-century writers were such excursionistas – adepts of this type of hiking – and through these pursuits encouraged lexicographic and folklore collections as well as interest in archeology, geography, history and the natural sciences. In the domain of cultural imagery, the engagement with the countryside endowed all things rural with the aura of national authenticity. In 1876, the Catalan “Association for Scientific Hiking” was founded, and in 1878 the “Catalan Hiking Association”, which merged with the still-dominant Centre Excursionista de Catalunya in 1890. In the Valencian country, the excursionistas of Lo Rat Penat organized numerous field trips, in one of which (1882, a visit to the monastic ruins of Poblet and Santes Creus) some of the leading figures of the age took part: Teodor Llorente, Francesc Matheu, Jacint Verdaguer, Àngel Guimerà, Antoni Gaudí, Marià Aguiló. At the same time the first hiking guides were published and a considerable amount of hiking-related literature appeared in the hiking associations’ journals (for example, the Butlletí del Centre Excursionista de Catalunya) and in novels and poetry. Characteristic examples are Carles Bosch de la Trinxeira’s collection Records d’un excursionista (1887) and Jacint Verdaguer’s Excursions i viatges (which contains an evocation of the Canigou mountain also celebrated in his poem Canigó). At the beginning of the 20th century, scouting was introduced into Catalonia, and this, too, had a noticeable patriotic effect. Despite the difficulties caused by the 1936-39 war and the anti-Catalan repression during the Franco dictatorship, the Catalan hiking movement preserved its Catalanist spirit and, particularly in the second half of the 20th century, achieved great things in mountaineering.

Human towers – men standing on each other’s shoulders and constructing towers, castells,  of up to 10 tiers high – arose out of popular culture. Their origin can be traced back to the Dance of the Valencians, first documented in the 17th century, but by the 19th century they had become a separate pursuit, limited to the geographical area of the Camp de Tarragona and the Penedès. In the second half of the 19th century they gained popularity and height records were achieved that remained unsurpassed for a century. It was at this time that they were described by some of the leading writers of the age – Josep Pin i Soler, Narcís Oller, Àngel Guimerà, Francesc Pelai Briz – and provided with the first Catalanist symbols. After several periods of decline and recovery, their golden age was to begin with the demise of the Franco dictatorship (1975) and as yet shows no signs of abating. The number of colles (teams) has increased considerably, the towers constructed were the highest ever seen and of varying types, the performances have become a mass event, and particular emphasis has been placed on its amateur status and its social and gender inclusiveness. While the traditionalist clothing – white trousers, waist-scarf and head-scard, espadrilles – evokes Catalan cultural authenticity, the sport has become a means of social integration for immigrants from all over the world. Human tower-building was put on UNESCO’s list of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2010.

The most cosmopolitan of sports, football, has gained a special status in Catalan life since its introduction at the end of the 19th century. The Espanyol team, founded in 1900, used the colours of the mythical Catalan fleet of the Middle Ages; but since it remained aloof from Catalan nationalism, and having accepted royal patronage as the “Royal Sports Club Espanyol” in 1912, its popularity declined in favour of Barcelona Football Club. Barcelona FC was fully engaged with Catalanism: it was expressed in the club’s coat of arms (four pallets and the cross of St George), in the fact that the club signed every petition for the country’s autonomy and in its participation in the 11 September celebrations (Catalonia’s national feast day). The first club anthem was composed by the leading Catalan musician Enric Morera. As a result, sporting rivalry was overlaid with political ones: between republicans and Catalanists, and between monarchists and centralists. In 1925, during the Primo de Rivera dictatorship, the booing and jeering of the Spanish national anthem in a match held in honour of the Catalan Choral Society led to Barça’s stadium being closed for six months; during the Republic, the club celebrated the 11 September feast day, organized Catalan language courses and, on an American tour in 1937, acted as ambassador for the Republic and the Catalan Government. (The club’s president, Josep Sunyol, had been shot by Francoists in the preceding year.) In the climate of post-war repression, the rivalry with Espanyol was surpassed by the one with Real Madrid, now identified as the team of the regime. It was at this time that the expression “more than a club” was first coined to express the sense that the club’s significance went far beyond its sporting remit.