Defenitely an acrobatic category a/c. Although a proper spin and spin recovery is no biggie in most spin-certified a/c, as you say, students may handle the airplane very rougly.
Did my spin endorsement for the FAA CFI today. My instructor demonstrated a 3-turn spin with a water bottle, uncapped, on top of the instrument panel of a C152. Didn't even move, although my eyeballs were probably pretty big...