Rowing Clubs in Spain: Traineras, Lakes and the Med

This page is for anyone living in Spain, or planning a long stay, who wants to row. Spain has two rowing worlds that barely overlap. Olympic-style sculling and sweep happens on lakes, rivers and the Mediterranean, with Lake Banyoles as its historic heart. On the Atlantic and Cantabrian coast, town crews race heavy fixed-seat traineras, and the Bandera de La Concha in San Sebastián has been running since 1879. Decide which you want before you pick a club.

Clubs to start with

Club	Founded	Location/water	Who it’s for	Website
Club Natació Banyoles	c. 1925 (rowing 1958)	Banyoles, Estany de Banyoles	learn-to-row	cnbanyoles.cat
Real Club de Regatas de Alicante	n/a	Alicante, Mediterranean	recreational, masters, competitive	rcra.es
Real Club Mediterráneo	1873	Málaga, Mediterranean	competitive	realclubmediterraneo.com
Club Náutico Sevilla	1952	Seville, Guadalquivir	juniors, masters, competitive	clubnauticosevilla.com
Club de Remo Cabo da Cruz	1979	Boiro, Galicia	juniors, competitive	crcc.gal
Club de Remo Ares	1958	Ares, A Coruña	competitive	ACT profile
Orio (CRO Orio AE)	1965	Orio, Gipuzkoa	competitive	ACT profile
Hondarribia Arraun Elkartea	1960	Hondarribia, Gipuzkoa	competitive	ACT profile
Donostiarra	2007	San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa	competitive	ACT profile

Club Natació Banyoles marked its centenary in 2025, which is where the approximate date comes from. Trainera clubs mostly appear here through their league profiles, so ask locally about junior and beginner sections. See all club guides for other countries, including rowing clubs in Italy and rowing clubs in France.

How Spanish rowing is organised

The Federación Española de Remo, founded in 1918, is the national body. It covers five strands: Olympic rowing, para rowing, traditional rowing, sea rowing and indoor rowing. Regional federations sit beneath it, such as the Galician federation that Cabo da Cruz belongs to, and the federation site has a clubs page.

Fixed-seat rowing, known as banco fijo, runs largely in its own structures. The top trainera league is the Liga ACT, also called the Eusko Label Liga, which the Asociación de Clubes de Traineras founded in 2003. It has 12 clubs on its current menu, drawn from the Basque Country and Galicia. Galicia also has its own leagues below that level. Cabo da Cruz entered two men’s traineras in those Galician leagues in 2013 and won promotion to the ACT that same year.

Banco móvil, the sliding-seat rowing you will recognise from the Olympics, is more thinly spread and often sits inside big multi-sport clubs. Club Náutico Sevilla, Real Club Mediterráneo and Real Club de Regatas de Alicante are all examples of that model.

Season and regattas

• Trainera summer. The ACT season runs through the summer. The league’s own review of 2026 was published by 24 September.
• Bandera de La Concha. The biggest day in the sport, on the first two Sundays of September in San Sebastián. Orio won in 2025 and also won the 2025 Liga ACT.
• Banyoles. The lake’s international course opened on 14 August 1964 with an Oxford and Cambridge race, and it hosted the 1991 Junior World Championships as a pilot for the 1992 Olympic Games.
• Sea and beach sprint. The federation runs national leagues for both. Málaga’s rowers reported sea rowing medals and a beach sprint world championship trip to China.

Dates move from year to year, so check the federation’s calendar pages before you plan a trip.

Joining as a newcomer or visitor

Costs are clearest at Alicante, which publishes its rates: annual registration is €95 for non-members and €75 for members, and recreational rowing runs two or three days a week in mixed-age groups, using club equipment. Competition groups run from alevín age to veterans.

Big clubs in the south can work differently. Real Club Mediterráneo is mainly for its socios, and Club Náutico Sevilla is a sports and social club with more than 8,000 social members, so ask whether you can join the rowing section alone or need full club membership.

At Banyoles, the rowing section’s contact is [email protected]. Its page is in Catalan, and Alicante’s is in Spanish. In Galicia and the Basque Country, expect Galician or Basque as well as Spanish around the boathouse. As a rule of thumb, you will need working Spanish to follow coaching, so ask about English before you commit. Spanish speakers looking further afield can try our guide to rowing clubs in Argentina.

How to pick a club in Spain

• Choose your boat. A trainera needs a full crew and a heavy training commitment in a town team. A sculling or sweep club suits someone who wants flexible sessions.
• Look for a school. Cabo da Cruz’s youth programme grew into Boiro’s Escuela Municipal de Remo, and Alicante runs its own rowing school. Named schools usually mean regular coaching.
• Think about the sea. Coastal water in Alicante or Málaga brings chop, so ask what happens on rough days.
• Mind the heat. In the south, summer sessions usually move to early morning. Ask for the summer timetable.
• Be honest about language. Basque or Galician town clubs are close-knit, so a relocating rower may settle faster if they can join in off the water too.

Prepare with the first month on the erg, and read rowing for beginners if you have never sat in a boat.

Spotted a mistake or a club we should add? Let us know.