Sporting Marbella: Europe’s Best Sports Destination for 2026

As of now, Marbella holds the title of Europe’s Best Sports Destination for 2026.  The distinction was presented to our Mayor, Angeles Muñoz, last weekend during the Reserve Cup padel tournament.  How cool is that?

European Best Destinations registered a score of 19.6 out of 20 in rankings for our city, compiled by specialist travellers and international experts.  During the presentation, Maximilien Lejeune, head of the organisation, highlighted Marbella’s ability to combine world-class facilities with a year-round sporting offer.  He also commended our city’s capacity to host major events, including the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2025, which brought thousands of athletes to Marbella.

On this occasion, 18 of the world’s top padel players came to Marbella for three days of competition at the Reserve Cup. The Mayor attended the matches alongside the current world number two in men’s tennis, Carlos Alcaraz and Wayne Boich, who founded this event.

Puente Romano’s club hosted this second Marbella edition of the competition, which was launched in Miami two years ago. Twelve matches were played between Thursday and Sunday and for the first time, women were included in both teams, marking another step forward for the event and for “social justice”.

Puente Romano has combined elite competition with luxury tourism for almost half a century, from Björn Borg back in 1979  when the club opened to today with top stars, including Novak Djokovic having trained there, and padel’s biggest names using the club regularly.

Well done to all! Another reason to feel super proud of our city,

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