Thousands of Cheltenham fans choose to flock to Spain to watch the festival
The Cheltenham Festival is well and truly underway as thousands of fans descend on the quiet English town for some of the best jump racing on the calendar.
Over 60,000 fans are set to cross the Irish Sea as the ‘Irish takeover’ of Cheltenham is well and truly underway, with Willie Mullins already picking up two winners as well as two Irish horses winning in the first handful of races at the festival.
The stars are out at the festival, including Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler, Zara and Mike Tindall, and Jordan Pickford, to name a few. Over a quarter of a million people are set to attend racing at Prestbury Park, but a sizeable crowd has decided to head much further south for this week’s festivities.
Luke Humphries and Luke Littler, with his partner Faith Millar, are attending day one of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival. Pic: PA
Thousands of Brits have flocked south to the ol’ reliable Benidorm in Spain to take in this week’s offering of racing.
It’s a trend that has been rising in recent years: as the cost of living has gotten out of hand, thousands have decided that going to the holiday spot ‘out of season’ is more enticing than trying to attend the festival itself, or even going to their local pub for it.
With the price of a pint at the Festival at £7.50 (after a decrease), tourists can get drinks for as little as £2 in the Spanish town. Hotel bookings are said to be up 225% from last year, as this year’s festival is set to be the busiest one ever for holidaymakers.
English tourists in Benidorm, Spain. Pic: Zowy Voeten/Getty Images
The chief customer officer of package holiday firm On the Beach, Zoe Harris, spoke about the unusually busy period bars are expecting this week in the Costa Blanca.
‘We’re so close to hearing the Benidorm roar erupt as the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle gets underway. It’s clear from the number of punters heading over that this is shaping up to be the biggest Cheltenham Festival Benidorm has ever seen.
‘The bars will be packed from first race to last, and you’re guaranteed to hear the cheers echoing down the strip with every winner.’
Fans gather around a big screen showing the Festival in Benidorm. Pic: @PaddyPower/ X
Paddy Power shared a video of hundreds of fans gathered around the big screens in the South of Spain as the racing got underway.
However, while many tourists would’ve been hoping for some sun as the weather in Britain and Ireland only begins to get better after a brutal winter, they brought the bad weather with them to Spain. A video emerged online of rain falling on partygoers.
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