This summer, Tenerife is going to be an important place for Spanish women’s basketball.
The Spanish Basketball Federation has just announced the preparation tour for the Berlin World Cup, under the name “Volvemos a soñar” — We’re Back to Dreaming. Five games, three venues, two months of work before the World Cup. And one of those venues is Tenerife.
On August 21st and 23rd, the Spanish senior national team will play at the Pabellón Santiago Martín in La Laguna against Nigeria and Belgium — reigning European champions and Spain’s regular opponent in the last two continental finals. Two games broadcast live on Teledeporte.
It is the first time the national team plays an official tournament in Tenerife since winning the bronze medal on the island in 2018. That was Spain’s last World Cup. This summer, eight years later, they are back.
A team in transition, a historic moment
The team Miguel Méndez is preparing is the one built around generational change. The same team that finished as European runners-up in 2025. A squad that has closed one cycle and is opening another, combining international experience with a new generation that has already proven the talent is there.
World Cup Group A features Germany — the host nation, backed by their home crowd —, Japan — one of the most dynamic styles in international basketball — and Mali. Spain opens on September 4th against Germany. Three days later, against Japan. There is no margin for error from the first game.
The full preparation tour covers Ludwigsburg on August 15th against Germany, Tenerife on August 21st and 23rd against Nigeria and Belgium, and closes in Zaragoza on August 29th and 30th against Mali and China. Two of the three group-stage opponents faced before arriving in Berlin.
Tenerife, before anyone else
Weeks before the national team arrives on the island, Tenerife will already have been the setting for another relevant moment in Spanish women’s basketball.
From July 1st to 12th, Puerto de la Cruz hosts the SCP College Campus 2026. Twelve days of training, evaluation, and direct connection with the American university system for Spanish players who want to make the leap. A campus led by Ángel Jareño — 45 years in Spanish basketball, 18 seasons at Real Madrid — and designed so that every player understands her real level, works on her weaknesses, and connects with the right American university programs for her profile.
The same territory. The same sport. Two moments on the same path.
The national team comes to Tenerife to prepare for the biggest stage in women’s basketball. The campus players come to Tenerife to take the first step of a journey that, for many, can end at an American university — and for some, much further than that.
The summer of Spanish women’s basketball
It is no coincidence that everything comes together this summer. Spanish women’s basketball is at a level of visibility it has not had in years. Four players in the WNBA. A national team returning to the World Cup. A young generation proving that the talent exists and that the path, when developed properly, leads somewhere.
That context is exactly what makes this the moment to commit. For players at that critical stage — those who are 15, 16, 17 years old, competing in Liga Femenina 2 or youth categories — the summer of 2026 is a clear signal that the path exists and that the time to start building it is now.
SCP College Campus 2026 is that first step.
Want to know how the process of reaching an American university works? Find out here
