The long train to Sayulita made yet another stop today, with Team Spain jumping on board carrying a full squad that may just give a few of the more famous paddling nations a run for their money.

The SUP racing division is a mix of youth and experience, with Pepe Oltra making a return along with one of the top women’s performers from 2014, Laura Quetglas. They’ll be joined by youngster Jurgi Zulaika, who took out part of the national titles race last week.

A few of Spain’s top athletes, such as Roman Frejo, couldn’t make the selection event and won’t be in Mexico, but I’m sure the current squad will do them proud. The team will be buoyed by Iballa’s return to the women’s SUP surfing event – she was a standout last year on her way to a finals appearance.

However the real card up Spain’s sleeve is their prone paddling division.

Last year we saw their female representative, Itziar Abascal, pick up a pair of medals and help propel Spain to 4th on the overall team standings. Their guys weren’t too far off the pace either. With the much talked about issue of prone having a huge weighting in the overall team standings, Spain’s strength in this area will potentially see them surge up the leaderboard and leapfrog a couple of the stronger SUP nations.

We’ll find out for sure in four weeks time, when the ISA train rolls into Sayulita and the festivities begin.

In the meantime you can give the Spain Paddleboard Team a follow on Instagram to keep up with their adventure.