World SUP Festival Costa Blanca Kicks Off the 2026 European SUP League

Like every year, Spain will become the center of the international SUP race scene this April, as the World SUP Festival Costa Blanca returns from April 24 to 26, 2026, in Santa Pola, Alicante. Now in its sixth edition, the festival has established itself as one of the world’s largest SUP events, bringing together extensive experience, top-level organization, and one of the biggest SUP racing communities globally.

At the helm, Daniel Parres and his team at Parres Watersports, are once again managing every detail—from logistics and sponsorship to athlete experience and communication—while adapting to new challenges, including a temporary change of venue. The festival brings together not only elite athletes but also recreational participants, reflecting the sport’s growing inclusivity and appeal.

This edition also serves as the opening stop of the European SUP League, following a successful pilot year in 2025. As the flagship event of the circuit, Santa Pola sets the tone for a professional and structured season, offering athletes new opportunities for progression and development.

TotalSUP, official media partner, will be on-site to bring every moment of the action to fans, whether on the beach or watching from home.

Daniel, the World SUP Festival Costa Blanca is coming up fast. How are you feeling just weeks before the event?

Although it’s a large and already well-established event, we are still at a stage where we need to strengthen our financial resources in order to give it more stability and build a more structured and solid organizing team.

Even so, we are fortunate to have a very committed club that is always willing to step up when it’s time to launch the event.

But before that, there is extensive work across all areas: production, logistics, sport, sponsorship, communication… and all of this requires a great deal of coordination.

Every year is a challenge. As the date approaches, the pressure increases, as it does for any organizer. We know there are factors beyond our control—such as the sea or weather conditions—and we try not to focus too much on them.

Instead, everything that is within our control is worked on to the maximum so that we can keep it under control.

This year, in addition, we have a change of location due to construction work at the usual venue. That brings both advantages and disadvantages, but above all it means redesigning the event. It forces us to make new decisions, adapt courses, rethink spaces… and that adds an extra layer of complexity.

As always, we are tying up loose ends until the very last moment. Internally, we know everything that goes on behind the scenes, but externally we are confident that we will once again deliver great competitions and a spectacular sporting environment.

Personally, I feel excited, respectful of the process, and very eager to experience another edition.

In just five editions you have managed to create one of the biggest SUP events in the world. How do you assess the journey so far and what are the next steps?

The evolution has been very positive, but we have always been clear that we wanted to build an event centered on SUP as the main focus. At the same time, our idea has also been to create a broader environment around paddle sports, without losing sight of other disciplines that are part of our club’s DNA.

We want all of this to coexist within the same sporting and social ecosystem.

The main challenge now is maintaining the quality of the event. That means continuing to focus on the athletes—who are at the center—but also on brands, because we need to consolidate the event financially. And we also want to open up to recreational participants.

For us, it is very important to attract people who may not compete but are interested in the sport or in a healthy lifestyle. We want the festival to be a gateway, an experience where someone can discover a new sport and start practicing it, alone or with family.

Japan, France, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Australia and Spain on the 2025 Open Men and Women podium

Organizing the event also means Parres Watersports athletes compete at home. What is that atmosphere like inside the club?

From the inside, it’s experienced with great intensity, but also with some organizational complexity. For families, it’s a challenge, because we try to get them involved in helping with the organization, but at the same time they want to watch their children compete or even compete themselves.

The reality is that many athletes from the club want to participate, so sometimes we have less support than we would need because they are competing or alternating between helping and racing.

Even so, we are fortunate to have very committed families who understand the value of being part of an international event of this level. For many of them, this is one of the few major events of the year they take part in, and they experience it with great enthusiasm.

A very special atmosphere is created, where the club not only organizes but also actively participates in the event. This creates a strong sense of belonging and a very enriching experience for everyone.

The long-distance race from Tabarca is always a highlight. What makes it so special?

The experience of traveling to the island, preparing equipment there, sharing that moment with top-level athletes and others doing it for the first time… it’s something very special.

Everyone, regardless of level, has a very intense experience, both in the long and short versions. Many even value completing the crossing more than the result itself.

From an organizational point of view, it is complex because it involves a lot of logistics: transporting equipment, coordinating on the island, preparing teams… but the athletes cooperate a lot and fully understand what it entails.

And then there’s the sporting side, which for me is key. It’s a race where navigation, reading the sea, and adapting to a changing environment play a huge role. It has different sections, different conditions, and that means you are constantly making decisions.

It’s a competition against others, but also very personal. You always learn.

In fact, it’s one of the few races I haven’t yet been able to experience as an athlete, and every year I think about how I could organize myself to do it, because I would truly love to experience it from the inside.

Parres Watersports had strong results last year, including major podiums at the ICF and ISA Worlds. How do you see the team’s progress and key athletes going into 2026?

We’ve come from several years of clear progression. In 2025, we’ve seen some athletes finish their junior stage and others establish themselves in the senior category, where we expected growth after the experience they had gained.

We are very satisfied with the individual results, and especially with the fact that several club athletes have been part of the ISA national team.

That kind of achievement has a very positive impact on the group. It motivates, creates role models, and helps others want to keep improving.

Sergio Cantoral, Sprint World Champion in 2025

Even so, we are aware that there is still room for improvement. Many athletes combine SUP with studies, work, or other sports, which limits training time and travel.

But the atmosphere is very good, there is a lot of motivation, and the youth system continues to grow.

We have names like Rubén, Enzo, Nuria, or Berta, and new generations coming through strongly.

I believe that, as a sport, we still have a long way to go in terms of structure and development, but also enormous potential in the coming years.

Alexia Soto between the Cantoral brothers, Ruben and Sergio

The event is now linked internationally with the European SUP League, which you co-founded. What are the main goals for the 2026 season?

For us, 2026 is really the true beginning of the league. Last year was more of a first contact, a way to gain experience.

This year we are starting to build a more real structure, transferring the concept we developed at the World SUP Festival and incorporating the vision of other organizers.

It will be a year of development, of presenting ideas, of testing formats. We would like to move faster, but the reality is that the sector is in a complex moment and moving in different directions.

The positive side is that the sport continues to grow in new areas, even if it has lost momentum in others. We believe the overall trend is positive.

The ESL is an open, evolving project. We want to include the opinions of athletes, organizers, and the industry, but it’s also important to understand that we have chosen a specific direction.

We are not trying to impose, but to build. And like any project, there will be adjustments, improvements, and constant evolution. The goal is for it to be sustainable and to grow in a solid way.

Mathieu Astier interviews Shuri Araki, live on TotalSUP

The ESL is backed by the European Surfing Federation. Is it open to all athletes, and what are the requirements to enter the official rankings?

Yes, and in fact we designed it with that idea from the beginning. We have structured the circuit into three levels.

The first is access to the sport, with popular activities, crossings, and environmental actions. Anyone can participate here with a day insurance.

The second level is the introduction to competition, especially for Kids and inflatable categories. Here we work with accessible courses and equipment pools (boards and paddles) to facilitate participation. At these ages, we prioritize experience, learning, and enjoyment.

In these categories, participants can compete with either a federation license or a one-off event insurance, and they have their own ESL ranking.

The third level is official competition, from U16 to Open, U18, Master, or Grandmaster. Here it is mandatory to have competition insurance and a license from the European Surfing Federation, which will be launched in 2026 at an accessible cost.

The objective is clear: anyone can enter the circuit, progress within it, and grow as an athlete.

Michael Lindberg, General Secretary of the European Surfing Federation

On the sporting side, what competition formats are planned for the ESL, and what is the philosophy behind them?

It has been a collaborative process with coaches, organizers, and the European Federation. It is not a unilateral decision.

– In sprint, we keep the ISA format because it is very visual and combines speed and technique.

– For the technical race, we have worked extensively on course design. We aim for shorter courses (between 1,000 and 2,000 meters) to avoid long packs and make the race more dynamic and attractive. We have even developed specific buoys.

The buoy design has a very specific goal: to improve safety, race flow, and reduce conflict situations.

After analyzing different options, rounded buoys with wide contours were chosen because they:

• Prevent aggressive or forced maneuvers in turns
• Reduce the risk of collisions
• Eliminate critical blocking points found in triangular or angular buoys
• Improve course continuity and natural navigation
• Reduce protests and competitive tension

By contrast:

• Triangular buoys encourage risky maneuvers
• Square buoys harm race dynamics and increase instability

In short, the goal is to balance spectacle, safety, and fairness, creating a cleaner and more understandable format for both athletes and spectators.

– For long distance, we differentiate several formats:

• Circuits of around 6 km (accessible and visual)
• Longer courses with short and long options for progression
• Point-to-point races like Tabarca

We also recognize formats like ultra-distance, but they are not currently part of the circuit core.

Our philosophy is clear: accessibility, progression, and attractiveness. We want athletes to grow, but also for the sport to be visible and appealing to the public and media.

If the sport isn’t seen, it doesn’t grow.

Prize money is a key element across all events. How is it structured, and what criteria define its distribution?

The first principle is equality: the same prize money for men and women.

We have set a minimum of €3,000 per discipline at each event. This guarantees a financial base across the circuit. If there are two disciplines, the minimum is €6,000.

Events that want to increase this amount can do so, but must always maintain the same distribution criteria.

Prize money is paid within a maximum of 15 days, as we already did in 2025.

The final is different: it does not reward individual disciplines but the overall circuit ranking. It has a higher points value and a total prize pool of €30,000.

In addition, all athletes can request official certificates of results or participation, which is important for grants, subsidies, or academic and professional purposes.

More information / registration
https://worldsupfestival.com/
www.europeansupleague.com
www.youtube.com/@EUROPEANSUPLEAGUE
www.facebook.com/esl.europesupleague
www.instagram.com/european_sup_league/