17 June 2008
The number of enthusiasts continues to grow along with the number of golf courses – large green areas with grass cut to the millimetre that now line the country. These are the images that accompany golf, one of few sports tied up in a constant controversy due to the consumption of land and water demanded by its installations in country where half of the territory suffers from strong, cyclical droughts.
In the last decade, 207,000 people received licenses to play golf in Spain, a number that today skims the 330,000 affiliate-mark, trailing only football, hunting and basketball. With this figure at hand, the Royal Spanish Golf Federation is armed to counteract one of the sport’s on-going “clichés” – that it is a sport for the few: “Golf has become popular.” The successes of professionals like Severiano Ballesteros, José María Olazábal and Sergio García have awoken Spaniards’ liking for the swing, which, since the 90s, has also been helped by strong economic growth and the opening of golf ranges.
Though the number of Spanish players has risen by an average of approximately 10% annually, this significant increase still places Spain behind other European countries with similar socio-economic levels. Close to 0.67% of the Spanish population has caught onto golf in comparison to more than 1% of Western Europe, with countries clearly surpassing this mark, such as the United Kingdom (2%) and Sweden (5.9%), according to a study published last year by golf course consultancy and managing firm, Aymerich Golf Management. At the same time, Spain is distancing itself from the other group of countries with smaller golf-enthusiast growth, such as Italy and Greece.
Given this intermediate position, the number of golf courses in Spain has grown spectacularly: the 222 courses registered 10 years ago have grown to a current total of 374, according to data from the Spanish Royal Golf Federation.
The golf scene is especially concentrated in Andalusia, the sector’s stronghold. Here there are close to 100 courses, almost half of which are crowded along the coast between Málaga and Algeciras. For this reason the Costa del Sol has been given another nickname, the “costa del golf” (golf coast).
Within the last decade, this coastline has been filled with holes. Golf tourism in Europe represents more than 1.6 million journeys per year, and within this attractive market, Spain “enjoys an outstanding leadership position,” Turespaña highlights.
EL PAIS
