Barcelona: All dressed up and nowhere to go
Photo: Luis Gualler

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Spain enjoying sports success

Visitors on a short break to Barcelona or visiting Spain in general will find a country enjoying a spell of sporting success. The latest is Carlos Sastre's victory in the Tour de France. The 33-year-old's triumph followed recent successes in football, tennis and cycling. It may be time to assume Spain will be a major medal winner at the Olympics after the year the country's sports fans have enjoyed.

In June Spain won the Euro 2008 footbal trophy after 44 years without a title success. Rafael Nadal won his fourth successive French Open and then became the first Spaniard to win the Wimbledon tournament in over 40 years in early July.

Before Sastre's Tour de France victory, another Spaniard, Alberto Contador, won the Giro d'Italia. If the Vuelta a Espana is won by a Spaniard, the country will have won all three big cycle tours in 2008. Would anyone care to bet against Barcelona, or one its Spanish rivals, enjoying club football success in the season about to get underway?

This article was written for TravelSavvy Europe by Bob Cartwright. If you know of an interesting European travel related news story, please get in contact.

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