Fighting against oblivion: the legacy of the 1982 World Cup, or the first challenge of democratic Spain

Abstract

In 1964, during the Franco dictatorship, FIFA decided to award the 12th FIFA World Cup to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). The objective of this article is to analyse various legacies that emerged from the holding of that sports mega-event. Many aspects have been reinterpreted over the years as being decisive in determining the legacy to Spanish society left by Spain’s 1982 World Cup. These include its economic impact, the remodelling of the stadiums and the modernization of the Spanish television network. This reinterpretation has likewise been true for the legacy that Spain ’82 has had both on FIFA and on the subsequent editions of the World Cup. Despite the political and economic difficulties at the time, it can be said that there were many aspects that were successfully addressed by the Royal Organizing Committee of the World Cup (RCOM), the Spanish Government and the regional and local political authorities.