Andalusia to Host the 2026 Spanish University Championships with the Prominent Participation of the University of Cádiz 6 March 2026
The joint bid submitted by the ten public universities in Andalusia will make the region the first to host all sports disciplines within a single edition.
The ten public universities of Andalusia will organise the next edition of the 2026 Spanish University Championships (CEU 2026), which are convened annually by the Spanish National Sports Council. The joint bid places Andalusia as the first autonomous community to host the full range of sports disciplines within a single edition, reinforcing the role of the Andalusian public university system as a benchmark in the promotion of university sport.
In this context, the University of Cádiz will play a prominent role by organising three disciplines linked to the natural and maritime environment that characterises the province: surf and parasurf, sailing and beach volleyball.
The competition will begin on 6 March with the weightlifting events (Pablo de Olavide University) and cross-country (University of Jaén), and will conclude on 17 May with the triathlon (Pablo de Olavide University) and rowing (University of Seville) competitions. The official calendar includes 32 sports disciplines, incorporating adapted events for Paralympic athletes such as adapted swimming and parasurf.
The bid aims to exceed 6,350 participants—the average of the last three editions—and to bring together more than 85 universities from across Spain, with representation from the 17 autonomous communities. The proposal was presented during the National University Sport Conference held at the University of Jaén on 19 and 20 November 2025, and the Spanish National Sports Council awarded the organisation of the event to Andalusia last December.
The distribution of disciplines among the organising universities will be as follows: University of Almería (orienteering and fencing); University of Cádiz (surf/parasurf, sailing and beach volleyball); University of Córdoba (mountain running and golf); University of Granada (equestrian, swimming and adapted swimming, badminton, rugby 7, karate, wrestling, judo, taekwondo, football, futsal, basketball, 3×3 basketball, handball and volleyball); University of Huelva (archery); International University of Andalusia (chess); University of Jaén (cross-country, table tennis and athletics); University of Málaga (climbing and padel); Pablo de Olavide University (weightlifting and triathlon); and University of Seville (tennis and rowing).
The involvement of the University of Cádiz in CEU 2026 not only reinforces its commitment to high-level university sport, but also projects the image of both the institution and the province as an ideal venue for competitions linked to the marine environment, while also contributing to the economic and social impact of the event at the local level.
The Andalusian universities have received support from the Regional Ministry of Culture and Sport of the Government of Andalusia, through its General Secretariat for Sport, both in the preparation of the bid and in the organisation of CEU 2026.