Do you want to play padel but have no idea where the best courts and clubs are? This is exactly why I have prepared this article. It will give you several options all over Barcelona, be it in the city center or the surrounding towns.

You might also want to check out my post about tennis courts in Barcelona.

Barcelona Center

Here you’ll find the name of the padel sports center and the area (click here for a PDF showing all the barrios in Barcelona) they are in.

Putxet Sport – San Gervasi

Putxet Sport is a comprehensive fitness club that offers 2 recently built padel courts plus personal and group tuition. This is where I currently train and play most of the time.

Indoor Padel – Sant Marti

The only indoor padel courts in the center of Barcelona. Group and individual training are available at economical prices. I train here regularly.

Artós Sports Club – Sarrià

They offer private coaching as well as group lessons. Padel courts can be reserved online.

MB Padel – Zona Franca

A very nice outdoor padel club, they have daily matches via Whatsapp, and the courts are well maintained. I pretty much play here every Sunday with the Barcelona Padel Meetup group.

Valldaura Sport – Nou Barris

Three padel courts await you at Valldaura Sport.

Centro Municipal de Tenis Vall d’Hebrón – Vall d’Hebrón

This club hosted the tennis finals at the Barcelona olympics in 1992. There are 6 padel courts.

Club Natación de Barcelona – Barceloneta

Play padel on the beach (or almost) at Club Natacion de Barcelona.

Club Natacio Catalunya – La Salut

Three padel courts.

Club Tennis de la Salut – La Salut

Ten padel courts.

CEM Espanya Industrial – Sants

This club is located near Sants station and has two padel courts (brick walls) that are quite cheap.

Fairplay Pádel Club – Les Corts

A very good club that also organises regular tournaments. There are 8 padel courts and a nice chillout area.

Club Esportiu Laietà – Les Corts

Eleven padel courts.

Pádel Blau – Sarrià

Four padel courts with a blue surface, which is where the name comes from. Economical prices. You can use their app or online booking system to find matches to join.

Ciutat Esportiva Vall d’Hebrón – Vall d’Hebrón

Two good padel courts and a Whatsapp group to register to matches during the whole week.

Pádel Barcelona El Prat – El Prat

There are 14 padel courts at this big club. What I love is that if you pay 39 euro per month you can play as much as you want in the mornings with no fee per session.

David Lloyd Barcelona – Les Corts

This is a really nice club with top facilities all over. You can check out their tournaments on the Facebook page.

Bonasport – San Gervasi

Bonasport has 8 padel courts, although they’re quite old and have stone walls rather than glass

Sant Andreu

Fes Padel

Nice club, they also organise Americanas during the week and have a Whatsapp group.

HORARI	1 HORA PISTA	HORA I MITJA PISTA
LABORABLES	7:00 fins a 13:00 13:00 fins a 15:00	15 € 20€	22€ 30€
	15:00 fins a 23	26 €	36 €
DISSABTES I DIUMENGES	De 9:00 fins a 21:00	18 €	27 €
FESTIUS	De 9:00 fins a 14:00 De 14:00 fins a 23:00	18€ 26€	27€ 36€

Sant Just Desvern

Sant Just Padel Club

A very modern club with 15 courts.

Llobregat

Accura Padel Cornella

A very nice and new indoor padel club with 7 padel courts.

Star’s Padel

This is where world champion Fernando Belasteguin trains, so I don’t need to tell you that the facilities are top notch. There are 14 padel courts.

Village Padel Club

Village Padel club has 8 high quality padel courts. They organize regular tournaments and have their own leagues. Check out their Facebook page for the latest news.

Padel Indoor L’Hospitalet

Six indoor padel courts.

Castelldefels

Club de Tennis Andrew Gimeno

They organize internal leagues and have 11 padel courts. They also have loads of tennis courts and a pool and gym.

Viladecans

Red Indoor

Seven professional high quality indoor tennis courts.

Gavá

Padelarium Gavà

An indoor padel club.

Padel Indoor Gavà

Eight indoor padel courts.

Sant Joan Despi

CT El Moli

Two padel courts.

Tennis Sant Joan Despi

Nine courts.

Teià

Club Tennis Barcelona Teià

This club has 6 padel courts.

Badalona

Padel Indoor Badalona

Six indoor padel courts.

Terrassa

Terrassa Club Padel

Ten indoor padel courts, including 1 beach tennis court.

Montgat

Padel Montgat

A very nice club that is situated close to the sea, there are 4 padel courts.

Premià de Dalt

Club de Tenis de Premià de Dalt

This club is located around 20km away from Barcelona. There are 4 padel courts and private classes with Guillermo Casal, a WPT player.

Vilassar de Dalt

Vila Sport Club

A new club that is still under construction.

Vilanova del Valles

Vilanova Indoor Padel

6 indoor padel courts.

Vilanova i la Geltrú

Club Padel Vilanova

8 padel courts.

Have I missed out on any other padel courts/clubs? Let me know and I’ll add them.

Meet my favorite sport: Padel (or Paddle, as it is sometimes referred to in the English-speaking community).

My Padel Story

Until 2015, I’d been a football (soccer) fan all my life and I used to enjoy practicing this sport on a weekly basis with my friends back in Malta. It was my favorite sport by far. However, once I started playing padel it immediately replaced football’s place in my life. I became thoroughly addicted to this sport and many years later I still can’t get enough of it.

Before trying padel, I’d played a few racket sports sporadically, mostly tennis and table tennis, and I enjoyed both of them.

In 2015, while holidaying in Seville, I saw some people playing padel and I was captivated. I made a promise to myself to try out this strange sport whenever I had the chance. I had no idea what it was called back then.

I later learned that it was called padel and that it is very popular all around Spain. One of the first things I did upon my arrival in Barcelona was to attend a padel meetup. Thus I fulfilled my earlier promise. I was hooked from the very first match I played. Soon enough I was trying out different rackets and reading all the material I could get my hands onto.

I took the sport very seriously and continue to enjoy watching and playing it. You can read about my full padel journey here.

So What is Padel?

Padel is a very social sport. It is always played in doubles format, unlike tennis where the main focus is on the singles matches. It is also very easy to learn compared to tennis, so you don’t even need lessons to start playing with your friends. This is especially true if you have played other racket sports in the past. Here in Barcelona, one can find various tournaments called Americanas which mean that everyone plays against everyone, changing partners for every match. As you can imagine you can get to know a lot of people during such tournaments. They’re the perfect place for expats to make new friends especially if you want to make some local friends.

The sport is essentially a combination of tennis and squash and is great for players of all ages and skills. The court is one-third the size of a tennis court and is enclosed with wire mesh and glass walls which you can play off when you need to. Rules are a mixture of squash and tennis, and use the same scoring system as tennis. Compared to tennis it is less focused on strength and more on tactics and psychology.

Padel in its current form was invented by Mexican millionaire Enrique Corcuera in the 1960s, although we can trace back its origins to 1890 when it was played by British sailors in the lower levels of their navy ships. The first padel courts in Spain were built in 1974, in Marbella. Spain counts with nearly 10,000 padel courts (about the same number as Argentina where the game was developed earlier), approximately 4 million regular players, and the number of registered players is continuously increasing. Sales of paddle rackets in Spain are nearly four times that of tennis rackets.

Padel is very popular in Spain and Argentina as it’s been played in these countries for decades, however, many other countries are experiencing a padel boom and are catching up. We might in fact be entering the golden age of Padel as it is currently the fastest-growing racket sport in the world.

With Spain being a very popular tourist destination, many tourists are getting introduced to Padel there and then taking their new-found hobby back to their countries. This is currently one of the main drivers behind Padel’s growth in Europe. World Padel Tour and Premier Padel, the biggest worldwide competitions, also help create interest outside of Spain.

Building padel courts is also a great investment opportunity since courts are smaller than tennis and the rental is paid by four people, therefore maximizing revenues. It is, therefore, more feasible to build padel courts versus tennis courts, especially in densely populated areas where the cost of land is very high.

Essential Padel Equipment

If you’re interested in trying padel, you’ll need the following equipment:

1. Padel racket: Padel rackets are solid, perforated, and stringless. They are usually made of composite materials, such as carbon fiber or fiberglass, and are lighter than tennis rackets. When choosing a padel racket, consider factors such as weight, balance, and shape to find the one that best suits your playing style and skill level.
2. Padel balls: Padel balls are similar to tennis balls but with slightly less pressure. Make sure to purchase balls specifically designed for padel, as using tennis balls can affect the gameplay and damage your racket.
3. Court shoes: Proper footwear is crucial for playing padel, as it provides the necessary grip and support for the quick movements and changes of direction typical of the sport. Look for court shoes with padel-specific soles, good cushioning, and lateral support.
4. Comfortable sportswear: Wear comfortable, breathable sportswear that allows for freedom of movement during the game. Padel-specific clothing is available, but any sportswear suitable for tennis or other racket sports will work just as well.

Watching Padel

At a professional level, both men’s and women’s matches are very exciting to watch. However, I’d say the women’s matches are better if you are watching to learn new techniques.

The men’s matches are more exciting as the points tend to be longer and crowd-pleasers such as smashes and out-of-court play are more common. However, since they are played at breakneck speed it’s hard to follow the particular movements of the players and hence harder to learn from. Of course you can always grab a recording and play it in slow motion to learn how your favorite player hits the ball. It’s just very hard to do so when you’re watching live games.

Padel tournaments are not only for the pros. Any padel player can also join amateur tournaments that are held in many cities in Spain. We are now seeing international amateur padel tournaments start to take place, as it’s becoming a profitable niche in the sports tourism sector.

If you’re in Barcelona you can join our Barcelona padel community on Facebook.

Have you ever played padel or seen it being played? I’d love to hear from padel players from all around the world!