Bola canaria: 130 senior players compete in Arrecife at the San Gines tournament

Arrecife's municipal courts hosted the final day of the San Gines Seniors Bola Canaria Tournament on Thursday, one of the best-attended fixtures in the official programme of the town's patron saint festivities. Over three days of play the competition brought together 130 participants, split into 11 men's teams and 11 women's teams.

This edition also included a mixed team from the El Cribo mental health association, whose participation was warmly received on the courts and gave the tournament an inclusive dimension not always seen in local competitions.

The event was jointly organised by the Festivities and Senior Citizens departments of Arrecife Town Council, headed respectively by deputy mayor Echedey Eugenio and councillor Rosmen Quevedo. Both highlighted the enthusiasm shown by the older players and their commitment to keeping alive an indigenous sport played with the traditional wooden bola.

Council representatives also publicly thanked Manuel Jesus Garcia Fuentes for his organisational work. He was recently awarded the Premio Canarias al Deporte 2025 for three decades of dedication to this traditional Canarian discipline. On the sporting side, Las Especiales took the women's title and La Democracia won the men's competition.

What bola canaria actually is

Bola canaria is the Canary Islands' own version of bowls: wooden balls are rolled across a packed-earth court, called a cancha, as close as possible to a smaller target ball known as the mingo. It rewards accuracy rather than strength, which is why it remains popular among older players and why matches can run for hours at a relaxed pace. Visitors curious about it will find the game easy to watch: the courts in Arrecife are open-air and in use regularly outside tournament weeks, with no ticket and no fixed schedule beyond the players' own routine.