'Champions League' of bricklaying cements its place on the Costa calendar for yet another year

An annual event brought together more than a hundred people at the Plaza del Padre Ciganda in Malaga's El Palo district on Sunday, 21 September. The reason? The 58th edition of the Peña El Palustre - a national bricklaying competition and El Palo's staple. Attendees and participants have been calling it 'the Champions League' of masonry for years now, with pairs of bricklayers joining from all over Spain.

The event started very early, at 8am, when the participants received the design they had to present, created by Demófilo Peláez Santiago: a spiral ramp. After four hours and 40 minutes of hard work in the sun, the jury announced the end of the competition. The winners were not new faces but instead five-time champions Aleix Plana and his assistant Vasile Safta. The pair from Tarragona won the 6,000-euro prize and the title that makes them two of the most successful competitors in the history of this event.

There were 28 pairs of professional and hobby masons from all over Spain. Natalia Muñoz, 34, was the only female participant in this year's event, which made her stand out. "I don't do bricklaying professionally, but my partner has a construction company and I do it as a hobby. I'm a social worker and I'm currently studying administration and finance," she said.

Second came Jacobo Cerón and Yutii Kokodynskyi from Villanueva del Rosario. They took home the prize of 2,500 euros. Third place, with a prize of 1,500 euros, went to José Antonio Guerrero Flores and Manuel Sierra Rapela from Bienvenida (Badajoz), while fourth place, with a prize of 1,000 euros, went to Lucio Jiménez and Raúl Jiménez from Riolobos (Cáceres).

"The competition has been growing thanks to the support of official bodies, companies and professional associations," said co-founder of the event Manuel Peláez Santiago, who also highlighted the competition's national prominence. Peña El Palustre counts on the support of Malaga city council, the provincial authority and the college of architects, as well as on that of numerous construction companies.

Launched in 1967, the national bricklaying competition perseveres thanks to the efforts of the founders and the members, who give their all every year.