Padel Mania hits Marbella

Padel tennis, a sport that has remained largely unknown outside of Spain and Argentina until recently, is now becoming an international sensation. The game itself has been around since the mid 70’s in those countries – with more than 20 000 courts across Spanish lands alone; there are currently estimated to be 4 million active participants! Outranking football as second most popular only behind it on the sports leaderboard: padel tennis’ prevalence in this space speaks for its popularity among Spaniards.

Padel tennis (referred to as padel) until recently largely unheard-of outside Spain and Argentina has been a popular Spanish sport since the mid-seventies.

Spain has more than 20,000 padel courts, with an estimated four million active players and behind football, it’s the country’s second-most-popular sport.

However, since the mid noughties padel has exploded onto the vacation scene with exponential growth of this new easier to play intoxicating mix of tennis and squash.

Football superstars like Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, have joined the padel revolution. Messi is such a fan of the new sport he has installed a court in his home and been seen playing there with Luis Suarez. Jurgen Klopp, manager of Liverpool uses padel to de stress and discuss tactics with his coaches between matches.

The celebrity membership of this booming easy to participate sport continues to grow…

The more conventional demand for golf courses has been supplemented with padel sports clubs popping up all over Marbella and beyond. Padel courts are ever more visible in urbanisations and villas across all the municipalities of Marbella, Benahavis, Estepona and Mijas.

New homeowners, and holiday makers have fallen under the spell of this new sport while visiting and have started seeking it back home in colder climes. Most notably the Nordic countries, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and UK. According to recent figures, Sweden is the fastest-growing country with 3,370 new courts added between 2016 and 2021 alone.

So like it or not, and most people seem to like it, padel is here to stay!

Padel Mania hits Marbella

What Makes Marbella & Beyond Different?

Stay Up To Date

Get In Touch

Angelo Collins