[Exercise as a form of leisure in 19th century Spanish bourgeois society]

This study represents an initial examination of the awareness of the history of sport in its double meaning as physical exercise and as form of amusement in certain sectors of society. Through different epigrahs and concentrating on the 19th century sport's gradual acceptance and fashionability, sometimes as pure therapy, sometimes as the art of playing something or as a distraction, are analized. The practices and techniques are wholly incorporated in study manuals dating from the final decades of the century, whether it be physical exercise in its gymnastica version or more diverse forms such as dance or billiards, it was also something recommended, to a greater or lesser exents, by hygienist and pedagogues alike.