The Spanish Grand Prix (Español: Gran Premio de España, Català: Gran Premi d'Espanya) is a Formula One race currently held at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, as part of the annual Formula One championship season.
The first Spanish Grand Prix in 1913 was not actually run to the Grand Prix formula of the day, but to touring car rules, taking place on a 300-kilometre road circuit at Guadarrama, near Madrid, on the road to Valladolid.
Motor racing events had taken place in Spain prior to that - the most notable among them being the Catalan Cup of 1908 and 1909, on roads around Sitges, near Barcelona. Both of these events were won by Jules Goux, establishing a strong racing tradition in Catalonia, which has continued to this day. This enthusiasm for racing led to the plan to build a permanent track at Sitges - a 2-kilometre (1.2 mi) oval which became known as Sitges-Terramar, and was the site of the 1923 Spanish Grand Prix.
After this first race, the track fell into financial difficulties, and the main race in Spain moved to the Circuito Lasarte track on the northern coast (called the San Sebastian Grand Prix). Following the 1936 race, Spain descended into civil war and racing stopped. In 1946, racing returned to Spain in the form of the Penya Rhin Grand Prix at the Pedralbes Circuit in Barcelona.
Spain did not return to the international calendar until 1951, joining the list of races of the Formula One championship, on the Pedralbes Circuit. In 1955, a terrible accident at the 24 Hours of Le Mans resulted in regulations governing spectator safety, and the pedestrian-lined street track at Pedralbes was dropped from the racing calendar.
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