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Basque Country and Catalonia

Big Sam

First Grade
Messages
8,976
I believe these Spanish regions could be fertile areas for RL growth. Both border France and have a links to Union so they would be somewhat familiar with the sport. Also they are not as economically impacted as the rest of Spain by the debt crisis.

Have any efforts been made into playing the game in these areas in recent years?

I know Catalans took a match to Barcelona and got 20k a few years ago, and there was a Catalan Championship in 2010 but I haven't been able to find anything after that. I haven't been able to find anything recent for the Basque region either.
 

miguel de cervantes

First Grade
Messages
7,468
Catalonia the region is a financial basket case also. No news from them since June 2011.

As far as I am aware league was played in or around Biarritz but that is ancient history. Long overtaken by union.
 

Evil Homer

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
7,178
Catalonia stopped playing after falling out with the RLEF over the fact that they couldn't be recognized as an independent nation (had the RLEF done so they would have lost EU funding and support). AFAIK there has been no RL activity anywhere else in Spain. Pretty strange really given that there has been at least some sort of presence in all the other major European countries.
 

Big Sam

First Grade
Messages
8,976
Catalonia stopped playing after falling out with the RLEF over the fact that they couldn't be recognized as an independent nation (had the RLEF done so they would have lost EU funding and support). AFAIK there has been no RL activity anywhere else in Spain. Pretty strange really given that there has been at least some sort of presence in all the other major European countries.

I don't understand this. Wales and Scotland aren't independent countries but are regions in a (United) Kingdom.

Ditto Catalonia. It's a region in the Kingdom of Spain.
 

deal.with.it

Juniors
Messages
2,086
Catalonia wanted to be a recognised NGB.
Not to mention that Catalonia is trying to break away from Spain.
So there is a fair bit of political tension there.
RLEF just did what was best for the greater good. They didn't want to jeopardise losing funding
 

crimpo

Juniors
Messages
549
Interestingly both Spain AND Catalonia competed at the most recent Darts European Cup. It was Catalonia's first appearance as such I believe. Oh and Gibraltar were there too - but that's another story!

As for Scotland and Wales - tends to be a historical factor of the British codifying the rules to so many of these sports. Scotland and Wales tend to have provided competition to England when no-one else was playing the sports and so they have retained the right despite the grumbles of the johnny-come-latelys!
 

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