His Majesty Felipe VI, Honorary President for the 30th anniversary of the Andalucía Sunshine Tour

More than 2,000 riders and 3.500 horses, from across 60 countries will participate here at the Dehesa Montenmedio, over nine weeks of competition, including the highest international level with six Olympic Qualifier, Grand Prix classes

The Andalucía Sunshine Tour celebrates its 30th anniversary this year with a very special anniversary event, starting on the 18th of January and finishing on the 24th of March. We are delighted that the President of Honour this year will be His Majesty, Felipe VI.  The magnificent installations here at the Dehesa Montenmedio in Vejer de la Frontera will hold nine weeks of top International Show Jumping and more than 2,000 riders and 3,500 horses from 60 countries will take to the arenas in over 550 classes, with a total prize money of 2.5 million euros.

This Tour is kindly sponsored by the ‘Consejería de Turismo, Cultura y Deporte de la Junta de Andalucía y la Diputación de Cádiz’ and is co-financed by the European Union. The event was presented at the headquarters of the Delegation of the Junta de Andalucía in Cádiz by the president of the organizing committee, Teresa Blázquez; the provincial delegate of Sports of the Junta de Andalucía in Cádiz, Jorge Vázquez; the deputy of the Provincial Council of Cádiz Antonio Aragón and the general secretary of the Andalucían Equestrian Federation, Pilar Vázquez.

The president of the organizing committee of the Andalucía Sunshine Tour, Teresa Blázquez, highlighted the special nature of this Tour; “30 years ago we started with 190 horses and 40 riders and three different venues, while now we have a single venue with 60 hectares of space and the Tour has become the most important international circuit in Europe. It is very exciting for us to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Andalucía Sunshine Tour, which will have everything that has always characterized it, a very high level of sport, magnificent facilities and all the incentives offered by the Dehesa Montenmedio itself and the region of La Janda, but also there are new additions to the Tour.”

The highlights amongst these are; “the honour of having His Majesty The King accept the Honorary Presidency”, in addition there is a celebratory poster and trophies, designed for the occasion by the Jerez artist Balcris and there are “parallel activities designed to commemorate the anniversary, that we will continue to announce, such as a retrospective exhibition of these last 30 years and a documentary on the history of the Tour.”

On the sporting theme, Teresa Blázquez pointed out the very high level of the participants who attend, with several riders from the top of the FEI Longines Rankings, such as Swiss rider, Steve Guerdat; Austrian, Max Kuhner; Irish Bertram Allen; Belgian, Gregory Wathelet; British, Scott Brash; Spanish, Eduardo Álvarez Aznar; French, Penélope Leprevost and Swedish rider, Petronella Andersson. Furthermore, “as it is an Olympic year, six CSI4* Grand Prix classes qualify for this year's Olympic Games and also the 2025 European Games.” The Spanish team have qualified for this years Olympics, after 16 years of absence and will prepare for the Games here at Dehesa Montenmedio’s facilities.

The Provincial Sports delegate of the Junta de Andalucía in Cádiz, Jorge Vázquez, highlighted that; “the Junta maintains its indivisible ‘marriage’ with the Andalucía Sunshine Tour by sponsoring this important event that takes place in the La Janda Region. It has a very important economic return in the province, with more than 60 countries represented, 12,000 accredited people and more than 60,000 spectators. The Board continues to trust in the important economic returns, more than 60 million euros and 1,400 jobs created, because this is horse sport but it is also tourism. The average person attending will spend about 250 euros a day, and this is quality tourism that enriches the whole province."

Jorge Vázquez also noted that; "this event helps many hotels advance their opening dates, it helps us de-seasonalize tourism, which is so important for our province, that is why we the Board maintain our unwavering support for this great international event."

The deputy of the Provincial Council of Cádiz Antonio Aragón stated that, “from the Provincial Council’s view, we are delighted to sponsor this event, it is an international benchmark in the sport of horse riding, where more than 2,000 riders and more than 3,500 horses compete, and which creates 26,000 overnight stays throughout the province. It is a strong commitment that has a very positive effect on the economy and employment in the entire province.”

The general secretary of the Andalucían Equestrian Federation, Pilar Vázquez, congratulated the organizers of the Andalucían Sunshine Tour on this 30th anniversary and stated that; “the Andalucían Federation has always been proud to have the Montenmedio facilities here in Andalucía. They are wonderful, and that is why the top-level riders and international teams always attend the Andalucía Sunshine Tour as it is a positive boost for their competitiveness. There have been 30 years of continuous improvements, edition after edition, and that is very important.”