Mijas goes up in the world to host 300 climbers in Copa de España competition

The curtain has been lowered on the second Spanish climbing cup (Copa de España de Escalada) which was hosted in the Andalucía region for the first time at the weekend, bringing together a total of 317 of the best athletes in Spain. Over two intense days - 20 and 21 September - spectators at the Las Lagunas fairgrounds in Mijas were able to enjoy some of the greatest national climbing gems in the categories of speed and bouldering. Their dedication, sacrifice and talent left no one indifferent.

Saturday saw the crowning of the new senior speed champions and the new junior bouldering champions, while on Sunday, it was the turn of the senior bouldering and the junior speed champions.

The star event on Sunday was the senior bouldering final and by 'senior' we don't imply seniority of age, as Spain's youth was very much the protagonist of this category. In the women's category, 17-year-old Júlia Benach from Catalonia raised her score to 99.8 points and won the gold medal. The silver medal went to Paula Traverso from Extremadura (84.6 points), very close to the bronze awarded to Lucía Sempere from Valencia (84.1).

"I was already looking forward to winning another gold medal, as I did at the Spanish bouldering championship, so I'm very happy. The most beautiful things are always the atmosphere and the camaraderie we have among the competitors. The competition had some very cool boulders, but the slabs always challenge me a little more," Júlia said. She surprised spectators with her strength, although she already has other championships and medals under her belt: the title of European youth champion; gold medal in the Copa de España for climbing in the difficulty category; and countless international participations in the categories of both bouldering and difficulty.

The men's final was more evenly matched: 18-year-old Manuel Pastor from Valencia won the gold medal by only 0.2 points. This is his first medal in bouldering. Raúl Escribano took home the silver (69.5 points), while Andrés Vila won the bronze medal (54.3 points). Interestingly, all three competitors are from Valencia.

"I couldn't ask for more. It was a surprise, excitement until the last attempt, at the last second... I really liked the walls. The humidity, which I can't stand, was the worst thing about the competition, but in the end we got through it and everything went well. I exceeded my own expectations," Manuel said. The Valencian was also a finalist in the IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships and last year's champion in the Copa de España for climbing in the difficulty category.

On Sunday morning, the youngest athletes competed for the title in the speed category on the imposing 15-metre wall. In the men's under-19 category, the gold medal went to Alberto García - the same boy who, just the day before, had won the senior title. The silver went to Santiago López and the bronze to Hadrian Pérez. In the women's under-19, the champion was Aisa Miguel. The silver went to Ayla Rubio and the bronze to Eva Herrero.

In the under-17 men's category, the gold went to Eric Fernández, the silver to Raúl Villalba and the bronze to Darío Andrés. Meanwhile, in the under-17 women's category, Nora García won the gold medal, Haizea Pinto came second and Consuelo Graña third.

Finally, in the under-15 men's category, the gold went to Hugo Díaz, with Teo Herrero becoming runner-up and Javier León Gento coming third. In the women's under-15 category, Telma Flores won the gold medal, Irene Gómez got the silver and Luna Corroto got the bronze.