Bodybuilding History: VII Cto. From Spain 1976

 

Already held six national championships, each time with a greater number of participants and with better-prepared physicists, gyms were opening throughout the Spanish geography and increasingly better equipped.In each new competition new bodybuilders appeared ready to unseat the consecrated ones so everything seemed to be unbeatable for Spanish bodybuilding.

 

Of the championship 1975 Spain had emerged a new champion, Salvador Ruiz, who defeated the legendary and unbeatable champion Baldo Lois .Both were selected, along with José Luis Ayestaran, to participate in the IFBB World Cups in Pretoria (South Africa) although the latter resigned from the trip for personal reasons.

 

As a result of this resignation, IFBB Spain organized a championship in Benidorm in which it was announced that the winner would occupy the place vacated by Ayestaran and won by Francisco del Yerro .However, the one who made the trip was Pedro Conrado despite not being in his best shape, which demonstrates the fact that he was not the winner in the Benidorm championship. Faced with this situation, Baldo Lois and Salvador Ruiz asked for explanations, obtaining the only answer from IFBB Spain managers to ask them why they were concerned, since they had already been selected hyperextensions at home . 

In Pretoria and during the IFBB Annual Congress, which is traditionally held together with the World Championship, Serge Nubret, who at that time held the position of vice president, was expelled for life from this federation due to a complaint processed by the Spanish delegation, accusing him of having exhibited in discos in Catalonia. Faced with this complaint, unfair in the eyes of Baldo and Salvador, the supported Nubret which, back in Spain, cost them a sanction by the directors of IFBB Spain.

 

With this climate of tension and connoisseurs of its influence, with many followers in the bodybuilding ranks, Baldo and Salvador chose to depart from the IFBB dragging after them the vast majority of Spanish bodybuilders and thus promoting the creation of the Spanish Association of Bodybuilding (AEC ). In 1976, the division of Spanish bodybuilding was a fact that led to the celebration that year of two national bodybuilding championships ... the same day.

 

As agreed in the previous Spanish Championship during the meeting of gymnasium directors, the date and place for the next Spanish Championship were announced for June 19, 1976 in the city of Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona), sponsored by the Most Excellent City Council and organized by Francisco Civantos .

 

Prior to the start of the semifinals, a meeting of gym directors and competitors was held where it was agreed that the presidency of the jury would fall to Baldo Lois who, on this occasion, did not compete.

 

The setting for this event was the Municipal Sports Center where the competitors were transferred after receiving welcoming words from the Deputy Mayor at the city council of the aforementioned Barcelona town. The championship had the presence of three great figures of international bodybuilding, Serge Nubret, Paul Grant and Gerard Bonnuit who made two exhibitions that excited the public and competitors, since they presented a magnificent physical shape with the exception of Paul Grant who recovered in those moments of injury.

 

After the event, the competitors were invited by the organization to a dinner, which was joined by the champions Nubret, Grant and Bonnuit , who also photographed themselves with everyone who asked for it. Serge Nubret distributed his photos for free to all attendees.

 

In Junior, Francisco del Yerro , presenting an incredible physique in size, proportion, quality and definition, was unrivaled to stand up to both winning the category and the absolute. Not surprisingly Paco, came from the NABBA European Championship in France where he also conquered the absolute in Junior.

 

Salvador Ruiz won his stature and the absolute title among the Senior competitors among whom he had no rivals either, given his set-up and, like Francisco del Yerro, he had won the NABBA European Championship in his category a few days before and was the second in the general classification.