Every year since 1920, Barcelona has hosted the Jean Bouin international race, which is the oldest athletics event in Spain that is still held today. Several races for professional runners are held around Montjuïc. But the one everyone knows is the amateur race, open to all, which follows a 10km route.

The race is named in honour of Jean Bouin, a French athlete and journalist who won a long list of titles in his short career and died tragically at the front, aged 26, during the First World War.

Jean Bouin, French athlete

Over the years the race has had a few interruptions, such as during the Civil War, and a change of name for the first two years after the war, when it was forced to go by the name ‘Gran carrera de año nuevo’ (Great New Year Race), as back then it was held around that time of year. The route has also changed over time, until it settled on Montjuïc in 1973, where it has stayed ever since.

Good luck, runners!