Sport, Leisure, and the Limits of Migrant Inclusion in Spain
This article, co-authored by Julien Puech, a CNRS postdoctoral researcher at the Géographie-cités joint research unit (UMR), presents the findings of SCORE (Sporting Cities Opposing Racism in
Europe), a collaborative scientific programme funded by the European Commission, conducted over a two-year period (2022–2024).
This project brought together several European cities, universities, and local organisations with the objective of fostering migrant integration and preventing racism and discrimination in sports.
The research programme involved the analysis of methodologies and strategies at local level (N=169). In this article, Noemi Garcia-Arjona (CIAMS – Complexité, Innovation, Activités Motrices et Sportives), Anthony Forestier (VIPS2 – Valeurs Innovations Politiques Socialisations & Sports) and Julien Puech analyse the Spanish case (N=52), which presents a greater diversity of initiatives. As relatively recent country of immigration, Spain has not yet established a common national integration model. To examine sports programmes and their underlying philosophies, the authors applied the conceptual framework of social cohesion adapted to sport and leisure. Specifically, they investigated how social relations, connectedness, and focus on the common good are reflected in both political narratives and the methodologies of sports programmes.
Dimensions of social cohesion in Spanish sports programmes: Type 1 (integration through sport
goal), type 2 (fight against racism goal) or Type 1 and 2, combined goals (%)
Findings indicate that social relations are a key priority in sports programmes, particularly for fostering strong, resilient social networks and trust among migrants and local population. However, civic participation and the sense of local identification are less prominent. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion on the policy objectives of sports programmes with recent literature. Additionally, the specificity of the Spanish case –particularly in terms of the importance of supranational structures in legitimizing local strategies– is examined through a critical lens.
