42% of Spaniards never practice sports , compared to 39% who do so at least once a week, according to a new Eurobarometer survey. The main reason that the interviewees allege to justify the lack of physical activity is lack of time (45%).
Spain is slightly below the community average in sports. In the European Union as a whole, 40 per cent of citizens practice sport at least once a week, compared to 39% who never do. Swedes (72% do sport at least once a week), Finns (72%) and Danes (64%) are the EU citizens who take sport more seriously , far exceeding the EU average. At the other end of the ranking are Bulgaria (where 82% of citizens never play sports), Greece (79%), Hungary (71%), Romania (69%), Italy (67%), Poland ( 66%) and Latvia (65%).
Both in Spain and in the EU, men practice more sport than women . This difference is particularly marked in the age range between 15 and 24 years, in which 28 percent of Spanish men exercise (19% in the EU as a whole), compared to 16% of women (8% in the European Union).
Among the reasons put forward by Spaniards for practicing sport are the improvement of health (61%) , the need to relax (40%) and have fun (25%), improvement in shape (29%) and appearance physical (28%), and weight control (18%). The majority of respondents (53%) prefer to play sports in a park or in nature , or on the way from home to work or school (51%). Only 11% go to the gym.
