Cantabria - Sports

Sports

The traditional sport of Cantabria is the game of bolos (skittles) in its four forms: Bolo palma, pasabolo tablón, pasabolo losa and bolo pasiego. The first one is the most widespread, exceeding regional nature and reaching the eastern zone of Asturias and also being the most complex in its game rules. The existence of boleras or skittle rings is important in every Cantabrian township, often being near the church or the village pub.

From the late 1980s, skittle play has consolidated with the reinforcement of skittle schools, revamped by the different town councils and Cantabrian institutions, the various competitions (League, Cup championships, Regional and National Circuits, etc.), or the expansion in the media due to the social interest. Sometimes bolos can also refer to the American bowling, which can also be played at malls and similar in the cities.

As in the whole North coast of Spain, particularly in Cantabria and the Basque Country, the remo (rowing) is a very traditional sport in the coastal towns. The origins of rowing in Cantabria go back many centuries, when several traineras (traditional fishing longboats) competed for the selling of the caught fish, which was reserved for the first ship to arrive to the fish market. At the end the 19th century, work became sport and people started to celebrate regattas between Cantabrian townships. The sport clubs of Cantabria, specially the Astillero, Castro Urdiales, and the Pedreña belong to the most prize-winning teams of the history of this sport, and nowadays they are having one of the best moments after a decades-long period of trophy drought.

The Pasiegan jump is another of the outstanding rural sports of the region and a clear example of how the use of a work skill that disappears with the pass of time, gives rise to games and competition. Similar to other forms, like the Canarian shepherd jump, in the beginning this technique was used in the Pasiegan valleys to cross the stone walls, the fences, the creeks or the ravines that bordered the fields and obstructed the pass in the abrupt geography of the highland areas of Cantabria.

Referring to mass sports, Cantabria is present in national and international competitions through teams such as the Racing de Santander, the RS Gimnástica de Torrelavega and the Cantabria autonomous football team in football; the Club Balonmano Cantabria that has won several Leagues and King's Cups as well as international titles in handball; or the Cantabria Lobos that has played in the ACB in basketball.