The main ruling organization regarding baseball in Spain is the
Royal Spanish Baseball and Softball Federation ''(Real Federación Española de Béisbol y Sófbol)''.
History
Baseball began relatively early in Spain thanks to the descendants of immigrants from
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
. They brought the sport along with them when Cuba ceased to be a Spanish Colony. The heyday of baseball in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
was in the 1950s and 1960s.
Owing to mass-interest in
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
many baseball clubs didn't survive into the 1970s. The Spanish public's massive shift in focus was largely triggered by the introduction of multiple TV channels that focused mainly on broadcasting the football matches of
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...
, the professional First Division Spanish League. One of the few survivors was the
CB Viladecans
Club Béisbol Viladecans is a División de Honor de Béisbol baseball club in Viladecans, Catalonia, Spain. It was founded in 1945 and was one of the most active teams during the heyday of baseball in Spain in the 1950s and 1960s. Club Beisbol Vi ...
, whose field was officially used during the
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...
.
Structure
The Spanish baseball league is divided into divisions. The top teams play in the ''
División de Honor''. In each division, a team plays all other teams twice, once at home and once away, and two matches in the same day, during the regular season. There are no playoffs. The top four teams at the end of the season play in the Copa del Rey. The champion and the cupwinner play in the various European Cup.
The Spanish league teams compete in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
under CEB most notably in the
Baseball Champions League and CEB cup.
The Spanish teams also compete in a domestic cup competition each year, called the
Copa del Rey de Beisbol.
Current hierarchical divisional breakdown
*
División de Honor (one group of eight teams)
*
Primera División (six interregional groups)
Since 2015 there are no relegations to Primera División as teams from this league are not able to meet the requirements for promotion.
For a list of teams, see
List of baseball clubs in Spain
Other competitions
*
Copa del Rey de Beisbol
*
Spain national baseball team
The Spain national baseball team is the national team of Spain. It is governed by the Royal Spanish Baseball and Softball Federation. It is a member nation of the Confédération Européenne de Baseball, or Confederation of European Baseball.
Th ...
References
{{World topic, Baseball in, noredlinks=yes