Castilla-La Mancha

Castilla-La Mancha is an autonomous community in central Spain that occupies most of the southern Meseta and brings together five provinces (Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara and Toledo) with 919 municipalities. According to the INE it had 2,049,562 inhabitants on 1 January 2021; its government, the Junta de Comunidades, is based in Toledo, and Albacete is its most populous city. Its landscape combines the plain of the Meseta with ranges such as the Montes de Toledo, and it is home to two national parks, Cabañeros and Las Tablas de Daimiel. The historic centres of Toledo and Cuenca and the mercury heritage of Almadén are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and the region is known worldwide as the setting of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote.

In sport, Albacete Balompié is the only club from the region to have played in the top division, with seven seasons, and in handball the community has had teams in the Liga ASOBAL such as BM Ciudad Real, Ciudad Encantada of Cuenca and BM Guadalajara. Castilla-La Mancha is the home of figures such as the Albacete-born footballer Andrés Iniesta, scorer of the goal that won Spain the World Cup in South Africa, and the cyclists Federico Martín Bahamontes and Luis Ocaña. Its facilities include the Albacete circuit, venue of national and international motor-sport events, the Carlos Belmonte stadium, the Quijote Arena in Ciudad Real and the Salto del Caballo sports complex in Toledo.

ACES Europe recognised Castilla-La Mancha as European Region of Sport 2024. The regional government presented the year in December 2023 at the Palacio de Fuensalida in Toledo, with more than 1,000 sporting events planned across the community, and its president, Emiliano García-Page, set the goal that by the end of the year there would be 'more habits and more sporting practice'. During 2024 the region named the Cuenca-born rally drivers Mónica and Marta Plaza as ambassadors of the title and took part in the ACES International Video Awards. The recognition places Castilla-La Mancha within the Spanish representation of the ACES network.