Spain already has one of its most interesting early-summer targets on the board. The 2026 European Off-Road Championships will take place from June 5 to June 7, 2026 in Ljubljana-Kamnik, Slovenia, and the pre-selection announced by the RFEA gives off a fairly clear feeling: Spain is not arriving with one or two isolated stars, but with a deep squad, very different athlete profiles and several real ways to compete near the front in more than one discipline.
This should not be read as just another list of names. It is also a snapshot of where Spanish trail and mountain running stand right now. There are proven specialists, athletes capable of doubling up, runners coming off a strong domestic spring, and an under-20 generation beginning to demand real attention. In a sport that can sometimes overreact to one result, this championship may be useful for measuring something more meaningful: whether the level seen inside Spain can also translate into stable international strength.
What will be raced in Ljubljana-Kamnik from June 5 to June 7
This will be the third edition of the European Athletics Off-Road Championships after El Paso 2022 and Annecy 2024. That matters. Spain has a strong memory of the championship debut in La Palma and arrives in 2026 after a packed domestic spring across trail running, classic mountain running and vertical racing.
According to the official RFEA information, the elite programme once again mixes very different demands. The Trail Running race will cover 52km with 2,450 metres of climb. The Up & Down event will be 13.1km with 825 metres of ascent. The pure Uphill race will be held over 8.9km. Information circulated through the Ljubljana Marathon environment also underlines the kind of setting this is: Kamnik and Velika Planina, classic European mountain terrain with hard climbing, clear elevation gain and very little room to hide weaknesses.
The biggest takeaway from Spain’s pre-selection: genuine depth
The RFEA has pre-selected 33 athletes, including 15 men and 18 women. Among them are six medalists from the most recent Canfranc-Pirineos world championships, which matters because it connects recent global credibility with the current moment. But that is not the whole story. The most interesting part is the mix.
Spain is bringing athletes built for very different contexts. There are long-trail specialists, explosive mountain-race runners, pure uphill climbers and young athletes backed by recent domestic results. That breadth matters because the European Off-Road Championships do not reward just one kind of runner. They reward a team that can handle different formats, rhythms and terrain types.
The men’s squad: experience, range and several genuine cards to play
In the long trail race, Spain looks serious. Diego Menéndez arrives as the reigning Spanish champion and with a strong recent run of results. He will be joined by José Ángel Fernández “Canales”, a runner with world-championship experience and a fourth place in Chiang Mai 2022, Alain Santamaría, who was fourth in the world in short trail at Canfranc and won team gold, and Francisco José Anguita, who already knows what it is like to race this championship.
In Up & Down, the competitive ceiling may be even more obvious. Alejandro García brings a very complete mountain and trail résumé. Andreu Blanes represents that versatile athlete profile that has now found a serious place in trail running. Jan Torrella, still only 22, already owns multiple national titles and looks like one of the most exciting names in the entire Spanish squad. And Manuel Merillas remains one of those runners who changes the shape of any championship the moment he appears on a start list.
The Uphill race strengthens that sense of depth even more. Torrella and Merillas will double up, Santamaría will also race twice, and Jonatan Arobes joins the team as another highly competitive name whenever the course turns steep. This is not just a talented selection. It is a selection built with tactical room to move.
The women’s squad: proven class and fresh energy
In the women’s 52km trail race, Spain brings a particularly appealing mix. Ikram Rharsalla leads a quartet that also includes Inés Astrain, María Martínez and María La Chica. Rharsalla is coming off a very strong 2025 and offers the kind of profile that matters in championships like this: recent international form and the ability to carry real ambition deep into a long race.
In Up & Down, much of the spotlight will naturally fall on Sara Alonso. That makes sense. Her recent international level makes her one of the clearest references in the entire Spanish team. But she is not arriving alone. Núria Gil returns after motherhood, an important sporting story in its own right, while María Fuentes and Claudia Corral complete a group closely tied to the level shown this season on the domestic circuit.
The women’s Uphill adds another interesting layer. Sara Alonso and Claudia Corral will double up, but they are joined by Ana Hernández and Laura Figueiredo, two of the biggest revelations from the recent national championship weekend in Palencia. That mix of hierarchy and renewal could make Spain strong in team terms as well as individually.
The under-20 group deserves real attention too
One common mistake with selection stories like this is to stop at the senior names. Here it is worth looking lower down as well. In the under-20 events, several athletes have been sending serious signals for weeks: Carlos García, Yeray Hernández, Gerard López, Jan Isla, Mario Tejada and Julen Badiola on the men’s side; Sofía Rubio, Sandra González, Irene Andújar, Laia Alonso, Julia Tofiño, Celia Mayor, Aina Civil and Khadija Bouzid on the women’s side.
These are not vague prospects. Several of them arrive with very recent and very concrete results. That matters because this championship is not only about handing out medals in the present. It also works as a maturity test for the athletes who may shape the next phase of Spanish trail running.
What Spanish runners should watch in this championship
Even for runners who do not follow elite trail every week, this championship can be a useful reference point. First, to see which athlete profiles convert domestic dominance into international performance most effectively. Second, to understand whether doubling up across disciplines ends up being a strength or a burden. And third, to measure whether Spain really has depth beyond three or four familiar names.
It will also be interesting to see which discipline leaves the best overall impression. Spain seems to arrive with arguments in the long trail race, but also with a lot of sharp competitive quality in the shorter, more explosive formats. If the team responds on several fronts, the reading will go beyond a medal table. It will say something about the health of the domestic scene, the level of the national calendar and the ability to produce very different kinds of mountain runners.
Why Ljubljana-Kamnik could say a lot about the state of Spanish trail running
Some championships leave only a headline. Others leave context. This one looks more like the second kind. Spain’s pre-selected squad for Ljubljana-Kamnik 2026 suggests a national scene with real competitive density, athletes capable of performing across disciplines and a young generation pushing hard underneath. Now comes the important part: turning that promising preview into results, sound tactical racing and a stable presence among Europe’s best.
If that happens between June 5 and June 7, 2026, this championship will not feel like just another date on the calendar. It could end up being one of the most useful tests for understanding where Spanish trail running stands now and where it may be heading next.