Some of the most important sport events held in the Canary Islands take place in Maspalomas Costa Canaria. The international football tournament of Maspalomas takes place during winter. This is a prestigious competition in which teams such as Ajax from Amsterdam, Galatasaray or Bayer Leverkusen have taken part of.
It was in 1984 when the German businessman Bernd Busch, settled in Gran Canaria, along with the former Chairman of the football club CD Maspalomas, Roberto Rivero, with the support of the town council of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, started this tournament during the first days of January. This tournament gathers, year after year, four international top-level teams.
From the first edition, won by PSV Eindhoven after defeating Fortuna from Dusseldorf (the opening kickoff of the final was made by German Chancellor in those days, Helmut Schmidt) to the last year, when the tournament was won one team which usually takes part in this competition, Feyenord, many teams have visited this south part of Gran Canaria and have shown their good football and their sportsmanship.
While Europe freezes, Maspalomas wears its full dress to welcome these distinguished guests. The list of participants in this tournament is more and more prestigious, due to the participation of historic teams such as the PSV Eindhoven, Ajax, Roda, Feyenoord and Vitesse from Holland, Anderlecht and K.R.C. Mechelen from Belgium, Bayer Leverkusn, Hamburg, Hertha Berlin, Eintracht von Frankurt, Schalke 04 and Fortuna von Dusseldorf from Germany, Göteborg, Helsingborg, Brondby,
Rosenborg and Malmoe from Skandinavia, of Dynamo Dresden, Stabil Sturm Graz from Central Europe, and Mediterranean teams such as Galatasaray from Turkey and other national teams from the former USSR, GDR and Czechoslovakia, along with the Swedish and Finnish national teams.
(Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburger SV, Hertha Berlin, Eintracht Frankfurt, Schalke 04, Fortuna Düsseldorf und Dynamo Dresden), Skandinavien (IFK Göteborg, Helsingborg, Bröndby, Rosenborg und Malmö), Mitteleuropa (Stabil Sturm Graz) und der Mittelmeerregion (der türkische Galatasaray) sowie Nationalmannschaften der ehemaligen UdSSR, der ehemaligen DDR, der Tschechoslowakei sowie von Schweden und Finnland.
This football event is another attraction to complement the wide tourist offer for leisure and entertainment in Maspalomas. The municipal departments of Tourism and Sport of the local council have been always convinced of the significance of this tournament and, thus, they have always supported and included this event in the annual schedule, due to its major importance.
