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María Albarral
Marebkka
Monday, 8 January 2024, 14:42
More than a hundred sporting events were staged in Marbella in 2023, generating almost 100 million euros for the town according to the councillor for sport, Lisandro Vieytes. The councillor went on to say that more than 36,000 hours of sport was played by local clubs and entities which rented courts owned by the council. Vieytes highlighted "the town hall’s firm commitment to improve existing and create new facilities and to support local athletes in various disciplines and competitions".
In his statement the councillor explained that his department has a budget of more than 5.8 million euros for 2024; a 76 per cent improvement over 2023, and indicated that sponsorship increases by 80 percent, from 811,000 euros in 2023 to more than 1.4 million for this year.
Of the 108 events held last year 19 were international and included the Rhythmic Gymnastics Grand Prix, the Billie Jean King Cup tennis qualifier, Ironman 70.3 (1,500 athletes), the World Padel Tour (1,500 athletes), Marbella Crossfit Championship (1,000 participants); Marbella Half Marathon (850 registered); Marbella Week of Football and Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España, as well as the Solheim Cup gold tournament. Of the latter, Vieytes claimed that it was "the most watched in the history of the tournament, with nearly 90,000 visitors and an economic return for the town of 29.1 million euros".
He also explained Marbella hosted national 11 events, including the Marca circuit padel and tennis tournaments, the Spanish Chess Championship (150 participants); the national Scooter Championship, the Spanish Climbing Cup; the Spanish Boxing Championship and the Etenon Marbella Bodybuilding Championship among others.
The town hosted 16 regional events, including the first Andalusian wheelchair tennis championship, CADEBA beach volleyball, the Andalusian Frontennis Circuit and the Regional Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship, among others and at a Malaga province level, the town hosted 12 events including and another ten at the local level including the Marea Rosa (3,000 participants) and One Marbella Padel and Golf.
The councillor went on to say that the town hall is currently involved in building nine sports facilities, with an investment of close to 23 million euros and has already planned another four that will begin in 2024, "without ruling out the possibility of more being added this year".
The projects currently on the go include a karate building in the Río Huelo park; the provisional athletics training track; the Nueva Andalucía social and sports area; Las Chapas swimming pool; La Florida urban park; Parque del Mediterráneo, Serrano Lima sports centre swimming pool and the new pavilion in the southern area of San Pedro Alcántara.
Improvements to the grass, new irrigation and improvements to the surroundings of Serrano Lima and Luis Teruel football pitches will begin; the extension of the Carlos Cabezas with the enclosure of the outdoor courts; the roofing of Santa María de las Chapas football pitch stands at the request of the clubs and users, and the remodelling of the Elena Benítez tennis courts complex in San Pedro Alcántara.
2023 saw the extension of Francisco Norte by 1,700 square metres, the complete remodelling of the tennis courts at the Paco Cantos sports centre, as well as the creation of new petanque courts in Erik Plan, Las Chapas, multi-sports courts in the Arroyo de la Represa area and the first botifront court in Spain according to the councillor, who also highlighted the skate park, the children's play area, the multi-sports court and the installation of bio-health machines in Bello Horizonte park.
Finally, the councillor stressed the importance of the sponsorship programme for local athletes and clubs 'Marca Marbella' and emphasised that 2023 "was an excellent year for our athletes, with more than 50 victories". Vieytes mentioned, among others, the bronze medal won by under-18s basketball player Carla Viegas from San Pedro Alcántara; Ángel Maté in the sixth stage of the Tour of Portugal; Juan Antonio 'Juanan' Gómez who was runner-up in the Malaysia ironman competition; Jesús Ríos in the Spanish motorcycling championship; Sarah Almagro who won the parasurfing championship held in California in the Prone 2 event; Jorge Otalecu who was Spanish triathlon champion in Cartagena and the promotion of Marbella FC.
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