The Incredible Success of Padel in Spain

In Spain, there are more padel license holders than tennis license holders. Today, the discipline is among the most popular sports in the country.

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Adrien Guyot

le 04/12/2025 à 16h09

2 min to read

On November 14, 2025, the Spanish Padel Federation confirmed via a press release published on its website that it had set a new record for the number of padel license holders (111,866), a figure that has almost doubled compared to 2015 (56,263). Padel is now in the top 4 sports with the most license holders in the country, ranking only behind football, basketball, and volleyball.

Padel, an affordable and accessible sport for everyone in Spain

Furthermore, Spain has 6 million regular or occasional padel players (which represents a quarter of the practitioners of this sport worldwide, while there are only 500,000 regular padel enthusiasts in France despite the growing number of license holders). So how can we explain the considerable rise of this sport in the land of Rafael Nadal?

According to the media "El Periódico de Yecla," several factors make padel more than just a popular sport. In terms of physical effort, it is a sport that improves coordination and reflexes, muscle development, and mental well-being. Padel is only played in doubles, which means it also promotes sociability.

Additionally, it is a friendly and accessible sport for all. In terms of pricing, Spain also manages to attract a large number of new members. Like tennis, padel has applications that allow all people, regardless of their age or level, to book courts at affordable rates.

Padel, a significant marketing product in Spain

If you live in Barcelona, you can unwind after your workday to decompress or simply on weekends for an amount of 4 to 8 euros per hour. In almost all Spanish sports stores, padel equipment is available at reasonable prices, while the number of padel courts across the country is constantly evolving (over 15,000 according to 2022 figures).

Padel is also a marketing product in itself, as stated by Iñaki Cabrera, Global Business Director at Wilson Padel, for L'Équipe in November 2024: "Padel is such a widespread sport in Spain that many brands outside the sport see it as a way to reach their target audience. The obvious example is Cupra, a Spanish automotive brand, which sponsors many players as well as tournaments," he asserts.

Find the full investigation

Find the full investigation "Is padel threatening tennis? Immersion in the revolution shaking up the established order," which will be available in full on the weekend of December 7 on TennisTemple.