Sagunto launches new amateur padel circuit running until 2027
The René Marigil sports hall will host the first stage of the Sagunto Padel Cup on 12 and 13 September, a new amateur circuit organised by local player Hugo Caparrós with the city council, running until December 2027.
Local player Hugo Caparrós has launched the Sagunto Padel Cup, a new amateur circuit for padel — a racket sport that mixes elements of tennis and squash and is hugely popular in Spain — that will begin on 12 and 13 September at the René Marigil sports hall (a municipal sports centre in Sagunto), with support from Sagunto City Council. This first stage kicks off a competition that will run until December 2027, when the top-ranked players will face off in the Master Final, the season's championship decider.
The René Marigil sports hall, a regular venue for municipal sports events, was also one of the buildings the city council used as a humanitarian coordination point during the DANA floods (a major regional storm emergency), which shows how central this facility is to the town.
The competition is split into four categories — second, third, fourth and beginners — designed for both experienced club players and people trying padel for the first time. In Spain's usual amateur padel ranking system, categories are numbered from strongest to weakest, so the second category brings together the circuit's most advanced players, while the beginners' category is for newcomers to competition. This tiered structure is similar to the grading systems used in amateur racket-sport leagues elsewhere in Europe, letting newcomers build match experience gradually rather than facing seasoned competitors straight away. Spaces are limited, so anyone who wants to take part must register online in advance through a form set up by the organisers. Entry costs €26 per person, which guarantees at least three matches and includes a welcome pack for each player.
The schedule for this first stage runs over two days: group matches will be played on Saturday 12 September, followed by the finals on Sunday 13 September, with prizes for the winners of each of the four categories. This will not be a one-off event — the circuit includes five more stages after this opening one: 14 and 15 November this year, 23 and 24 January 2027, 27 and 28 March, 15 and 16 May, and again 11 and 12 September 2027, right before the grand final is played. In total, six stages will be played over more than a year before the season closes with that grand final.
A points system is at the heart of the Sagunto Padel Cup: every match played adds points to an official ranking that will decide who qualifies for the Master Final. This format, common in amateur circuits in other cities, aims to keep players engaged over more than a year and reward consistency, not just a single weekend's result.
This new circuit reflects a trend seen across the whole country: Spain has more padel courts than any other country in the world, around 14,000, far ahead of Italy in second place with 3,513. This large number of facilities helps explain why amateur circuits like this one, now debuting at the René Marigil sports hall, have become more common — they meet a demand for competitive play that club-level padel does not always satisfy.
For Sagunto City Council, backing this initiative fits with the push its Sports Department has been giving to amateur sport in the town, where established names such as Atlético Saguntino (the local football club) and Club Halterofilia Sagunto (the local weightlifting club) already compete. A dedicated padel circuit adds a new discipline to the local sports scene — one that, unlike football or athletics, has not had a stable, organised competition in the town until now.
Anyone who wants to enter the first stage must register before the weekend of 12 and 13 September through the organisers' online form, since spaces are limited. According to aytosagunto.es, with additional information from Wikipedia.