After two years of hiatus due to COVID, the ‘ World SUP Festival Costa Blanca ‘ returns, a unique event for all audiences that combines sport, tourism, gastronomy and fun, according to the organisers.
The Diputación de Alicante collaborates in the organisation and promotion of this international paddle surf championship that will take place from June 3 to 5 between the municipality of Santa Pola and the island of Tabarca.
The provincial deputy for the Baix Vinalopó region, Juan de Dios Navarro, along with the mayor of Santa Pola, Loreto Serrano, the director and promoter of the project, Daniel Parres, and the head of the City Council’s Tourism service from Alicante, Elena Lumbreras, presented the event that will bring together more than 400 professional, semi-professional and amateur paddle surfers from all over the world.
“From the Diputación we are firmly committed to this type of event that allows us to deseasonalise the offer and maintain the arrival of visitors throughout the year, generating wealth and jobs in our municipalities”, said Juan de Dios Navarro, who highlighted the importance of public-private collaboration for the development of “excellent” initiatives such as this “that enhance our province and place it at the epicentre of world sport”.
The ‘World Sup Festival Costa Blanca’ will start on Friday, June 3 with a 200-metre test of the Spanish Open Water Sprint Championship. On Saturday, the main race of the Eurotour International League will be held in the 7km Open and 15km Elite modalities. In addition, that same day the canoe tests (SS1, SS2 and OC1) and Foil will take place.
Finally, on Sunday, June 5, the Open International Technical Race will be held with a race of a thousand metres and six laps.
Michael Booth, Titouan Puyo , Ty Judson, Fiona Wylde and Esperanza Barreras are some of the great figures who will be present at this event which, as Daniel Parres has pointed out, “has become a worldwide benchmark”. Likewise, the promoter of the project has announced that among the novelties of this year the modalities of ‘Prone Paddle Board’, ‘Canoe’, SS1, SS2, and ‘WingFoil’ have been incorporated. “We continue to work, edition after edition, to make this project even more attractive,” he added.
In parallel, the organisation has programmed a complete program of activities related to sports and aimed at the public of all ages. Starting this Saturday, various proposals will be carried out that include tourist routes, workshops, conferences, presentations, musical performances, exhibitions and showcookings, among others.
“One of the first municipalities to bet on tourism linked to the sea was Santa Pola, a decision we made because we believe that it is an ideal way to deseasonalise and attract visitors outside the summer season, something that we achieved with proposals like this”, explained the mayor of the town.
For her part, Elena Lumbreras has specified that for Alicante this is a particularly relevant event given the City Council’s commitment to nautical tourism. “We have the best beaches in Spain, a unique complementary offer and very favourable weather conditions that make us an ideal setting to host this type of event.”
With the aim of promoting its dissemination and bringing it closer to the public, the ‘World Sup Festival Costa Blanca’ will be broadcast through streaming thanks to a large device that includes eight cameras, a drone and professional commentators. It can be followed through the website www.worldsupfestival.com, as well as on social networks and the organisation’s YouTube channel.
