Mass Media in Spain: Spain: Pop Culture

Spain

Major Pop Culture Influences

As reported by Ashley Doyle

Pop culture, short for "popular culture", is defined by Dictionary.com as "contemporary lifestyle and items that are well known and generally accepted, cultural patterns that are widespread within a population..." Every developed population has a pop culture that is solely theirs. Although populations may have reoccuring themes within their pop cultures, no two will ever be the exact same. Spain has a rich history that has served to color its unique pop culture of today.

Spanish Pop Culture: Sports

Spain has, like many countries, a love for sports. If one were to try and find the perfect combination of Spain's rich history and their intense love for sports, one would stumble across the extreme sport of bullfighting. Found throughout Spain, bullfighting has been synonymous with Spanish culture since the sixteenth century. One of the most popular bullfighting events takes place during the Sanfermines in Pamplona. It is during the Festival of Sanfermines in Pamplona that the extreme sport of bullfighting is taken to the limit with the "Running of the Bulls." Starting promptly at eight o'clock in the morning and ending only two minutes later, the "Running of the Bulls" is a chaotic 800-meter sprint winding through the narrow streets of Pamplona. The mad dash begins at the corral and ends in the bullring of Plaza de Toros. Once they arrive within the plaza, the bulls are again corralled until the following afternoon's bullfights.

Turning to a slightly less extreme sport, futbol, or what American's call soccer, is another popular sport that Spaniards enjoy not only watching but partaking in. The most notable of these Spanish Futbol teams include Atletico de Madrid and FC Barcelona.

While the United States has the "National Football League" (NFL), Spain has their own "Spanish Football League" and while the two share similar names, they are completely different sports. The Spanish Football League was started in 1928. Due to the Spanish Civil War, the league was suspended from 1936 until 1939. There have been a total of seventy-three seasons since the league first began.

Atletico de Madrid teammate:

Spanish Pop Culture: Music

Traditionally speaking, Flamenco has been the symbol for popular music in Spain since the late 1400's. Flamenco is nothing without the song, a good guitar and an even better dancer. Many people from Spain, as well as other Latin countries, still listen to Flamenco and although it may be considered "pop culture" to them, it would not be considered "pop culture" to the current generation in Spain.

The current generation of music listeners have turned from Flamenco and set their eyes on something completely new and different. From the 1930's until the 1970's, Spanish pop music was very limited. Under Francisco Franco's harsh regime, Spanish pop music floundered without proper outlets for performers to express their creativity. This was a dark time for pop music but even in the darkness there was a small glimmer of light. British and American music, namely rock-n-roll, was able to have some effect on Spanish music despite Franco's regime.

In the 1980's, Spain's popular music scene truly began to develop. But it was not just music that began to develop. Spain's entire culture had taken a dramatic turn. This dramatic facelift of Spanish pop culture was known as "La Movida Madrileña."

Spanish pop is vast and to try and define it with a single word would be impossible. It encompasses everything: blues, rock, reggae, hip-hop, punk, ska, electronia, etc. One popular type of music that encompasses many of these aforementioned styles is called Ye-Yé. Ye-Yé refers to very uptempo pop music consisting of a blend of 60's American rock, hip French and British beat music. It was the movie star and singer, Concha Velasco, who launched the Ye-Yé scene with the 1965 hit, "La Chica Ye-Yé." Even with this American, French and British style of music, Spain's own Flamenco music was sometimes woven into the mix to give it a uniquely Spanish sound.

Some of Spain's singers have even made it big internationally. Some names you may recognize are Enrique Iglesias, Julio Iglesias or Marc Anthony. Although these three names have made it big internationally, they are not the only three.

A few of Spain's most popular singers and bands include:

Conchita
Fangoria
Nacha Pop
And many, many more.

Spanish Pop Culture: Cinema and Television

If you are a fan of gossip and scandal, you would love television in Spain! Celebrity gossip and scandal are a guilty pleasure for most countries but Spain has a wide variety of television shows dedicated to this.

Gossip and scandal not your thing? Are you more a fan of reality shows? Try the reality hit show Big Brother, translated simply to "Gran Hermoso." UK television has shaped many television programs in Spain as reality hit shows have begun to be translated from English to Spanish and broadcasted on numerous stations.

Just like music, television and cinema in Spain is certainly not lacking.

Cinema in Spanish is a prosperous industry whose prospering can easily be seen every year as more films are nominated and sometimes even awarded a Golden Globe from Hollywood's Golden Globes ceremony or an Oscar from the Academy Awards.

A few famous figures from the world of Spanish Cinema: