Polo in Spain gets stronger ever year; renowned as one of the most coveted destinations of the European season thanks to the great job done by Minuto 7, the organisation that is the driving force behind all the competitions played in Sotogrande through May and September, now the sport of kings is ready to resurface in Madrid, with the cooperation of the Iberian Polo Tour. Usually played at Los Pinos and Ayala, this year the Iberian Polo Tour will land in Madrid as well, most precisely at the exclusive Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro, located in the outskirts of the capital city of Spain.

The Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro, known as Puerta de Hierro, is a private country club, in Madrid, Spain. The name comes from a conmemorative Iron Arch (Arco de Hierro). Since many royal families from all over Europe were among the attendants to Puerta de Hierro, it was described as “the club of the kings and kings of the clovers”, by former American President, Gerald Ford.

The contribution of the Iberian Polo Tour at Puerta de Hierro is remarkable; the series attracted several new teams and players, in order to make it bigger and more competitive. José María Trenor, the President of the Real Federación Española de Polo, spoke to PoloLine, not only about the success of last year’s season, but also about the news and expectations for the upcoming events-

How did you see last year’s season? What do you think about the level of polo and the different tournaments?

It was a great season, indeed; it was a long time we didn’t have such a great level of polo in Madrid – we had seven teams playing 12-goal tournaments and four teams in low goal. And the grounds in Puerta de Hierro are magnificient.

Tell us about the upcoming tournaments for the 2025 season. 

Well, we will have the Puerta de Hierro Cup and the King’s Cup in June, and the Aznar Cup in September. Six teams, minimum, for the 12-goal competitions and another six, to play low goal.

What are your expectations for the new season? 

The idea is to strengthen the 12-goal contests, which is, in my opinion, the best level of amateur polo. At the same time, we want to make low goal grow, have more teams. We are also having talks to bring ladies polo; although it’s still too soon to reveal it, we will have news on this issue very soon.

What did Pelayo Berazadi’s support mean in order to help the growth of polo in Madrid?

The support of the Iberian Polo Tour is very important. There are a lot of work to do in order to organise a good tournament, so the experience of the Iberian Polo Tour is pretty significative. I am able to say that this year we will have some of the best umpires, as well.

Pelayo Berazadi, one of the members of the Spanish team who won the FIP World Cup, also contributed with some remarks, as the driving force behind the Iberian Polo Tour: “The idea is to let everybody know that polo in Madrid is back. Madrid used to be a very important destination for polo – we had 24-26 goal tournaments and the King’s Cup was compared to the Queen’s Cup, in England. But that level went downhill, and during the last year we could play only 8-goal. We didn’t have any tournaments after the COVID pandemic. But the Iberian Polo Tour is helping now along with the Federación Española de Polo, with the aim to resurface polo in Madrid”.

The calendar of the 2025 Iberian Polo Tour at Puerta de Hierro, will see three tournaments, and is due through June 3 to July 6; that means, a whole month of polo in Madrid, as well as ladies polo, as quoted by Mr. Trenor.

2025 IBERIAN POLO TOUR – MADRID

Puerta de Hierro Open 

Memorial Alfonso XIII 

Spain Championship