Marbella will gather the world elite of rhythmic gymnastics on March 21 and 22 at the Grand Prix 2026.

On March 21 and 22, the Elena Benítez Pavilion in San Pedro Alcántara, Marbella, will host the world elite of rhythmic gymnastics with a new edition of the International Grand Prix 2026. The Councilor for Sports, Lisandro Vieytes, highlighted during the presentation that "it is one of the oldest international sporting events held in Marbella and enjoys strong public support." The councilor also recalled that the City Council has renewed the agreement to maintain this prestigious tournament for the next four years, "with the goal of continuing to strengthen an event that has a significant sporting, tourist, and economic impact on the municipality." In this regard, he emphasized that "tickets were almost sold out as soon as they went on sale, which shows the great interest this competition arouses."

"We will continue to support this discipline with major events like this and with the upcoming opening of the new High Performance Center, a facility whose investment is around 1.3 million euros and which is in its final phase," the councilor stated. He stressed that this renovated equipment "will allow doubling the current space and becoming a benchmark for the training of national teams and future Olympic gymnasts," as well as providing the municipal schools of Marbella, which have 180 students and nearly 45 years of history, "the opportunity to train in the same facilities as top athletes."

Program

The event's program will start on Friday, March 20, with official training and continue on Saturday with the general classification of the Grand Prix, where gymnasts will compete in four apparatuses. The finals and the closing gala will take place on Sunday. Concurrently, the 'Andalucía Cup' International Junior Tournament, the Diputación de Málaga base teams tournament, and the Fundación Unicaja international national teams tournament will also be held, gathering more than 700 gymnasts from all over Spain.

Among the participants are top-level athletes such as Darja Varfolomeev, Sofia Raffaeli, Boryana Kaleyn, Taisiia Onofriichuk, or Stiliana Nikolova

For his part, the Deputy Mayor of San Pedro Alcántara, Javier García, emphasized that during those days "the city will become the global epicenter of rhythmic gymnastics," with the participation of about 30 gymnasts ranked among the best internationally. Among them are top-level athletes such as Darja Varfolomeev, Sofia Raffaeli, Boryana Kaleyn, Taisiia Onofriichuk, or Stiliana Nikolova, who will compete again before the Marbella public.

The president of the Andalusian Gymnastics Federation, Angelo Madroñal, valued the trajectory of the event and highlighted that "Marbella has been hosting this competition for 18 years, which is the only Grand Prix circuit event held annually in Spain," noting that the city is part of an international circuit with venues in cities like Paris-Thiais or Brno, "which places Marbella on the international calendar of this sport." In this sense, he referred to the "climate and Marbella brand duo, along with the technification center that is being completed, as an attraction for international teams to come here to prepare every year."

Lastly, the representative of the Fundación Unicaja, Manuel Dorado, explained that the entity has signed an annual agreement with the federation for the development and promotion "of all the schools in Andalusia, their events, and especially the fostering of new talents linked to this sport."