Málaga

Málaga, the capital of the Costa del Sol, was the European Capital of Sport 2020, in a handover from Budapest. Designated in November 2015, it received the flag at the European Parliament in Brussels and unveiled its logo with a 150-square-metre banner at the José María Martín Carpena Sports Palace, home of the Unicaja basketball club. The city presented the title as the culmination of a sporting transformation: whereas in 2003 only 13% of its residents played sport, by 2020 the figure was close to two in three. Its status as an open-air gym — mild winters and many hours of daylight — anchored a packed calendar: the basketball Copa del Rey, the futsal Spanish Cup, the World Padel Tour, masters athletics championships, sea rowing, and adapted and cancer-survivor competitions, among others. That year Málaga earned a double European recognition, also being named European Capital of Smart Tourism 2020.