The Red Eléctrica Punta Galea Big Wave Challenge returns to Getxo for the 2026/27 season. It’s Europe’s longest-running big wave contest, held beneath the Punta Galea cliff, and once again we’re organising it from Peña Txuri Surf Eskola together with Adrián Fernández de Valderrama. This edition was presented on 27 October 2026, and since 1 November we’ve been keeping a close eye on the sea.
In this article you’ll find the dates, the format, the confirmed surfers and how to watch. We’ll keep it updated right up to contest day.
The official 2026/27 teaser
“Are you ready?” That’s how the organisers opened the teaser for the 2026/27 edition, published on the day of the presentation on the contest’s official Instagram account, @puntagaleachallenge.
When is it? The 2026/27 waiting period
The Punta Galea has no fixed date. This edition has a waiting period from 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027: six months to wait for a proper swell to arrive. As the organisers put it, the Bay of Biscay will decide the day.
When the forecast looks right, the call comes in two steps:
- Yellow alert, 72 hours before: surfers and crew start arranging travel and logistics.
- Green light, 48 hours before: contest day is confirmed.
The contest runs for a single day, about eight hours, with the schedule set around the tide. The alert status is published on the official Punta Galea Challenge website.
Why such a long wait? The wave at La Galea only breaks big with a powerful groundswell that has travelled a long way. We explain it in our article on how waves are formed.
Format and prize money
- 30 invited surfers: 24 men and 6 women.
- Paddle-in only, no jet skis to tow surfers into the waves.
- One day. Two finals. Two winners.
- €30,000 in prize money, split equally between the men’s and women’s categories.
The organisers are looking for clean, consistent waves of around 6 metres. If you want to know what that figure means in the water, here’s how wave size is measured.
Confirmed surfers
The organisers will reveal the full line-up over the coming weeks. These are the names confirmed at the presentation:
Sol Borelli, from our high-performance team
Sol Borelli makes her La Galea debut this year. She’s the 2025 ISA U18 world champion, Argentinian by blood, lives in the Canary Islands and trains with the Peña Txuri competition and high-performance team. She was the star of our Alumn@ del mes (Student of the Month) series, and here you can read Sol Borelli’s story at Peña Txuri. At the presentation she highlighted the great atmosphere and the warm welcome from the local surfers.
The rest of the confirmed surfers
- Natxo González, a leading name in Basque big wave surfing, who grew up as a surfer with Aritza Saratxaga at our eskola.
- Grant “Twiggy” Baker (South Africa), three-time big wave world champion.
- Nic Lamb (United States), two-time winner at La Galea.
- Dominique Charrier (Chile), back again in the women’s category.
The 2026/27 presentation
The edition was presented on 27 October 2026 in Getxo, with the mayor, Amaia Agirre; Antonio González, from Red Eléctrica; Natxo González, Sol Borelli and Adrián Fernández de Valderrama.
Natxo González described it as “a very special and exciting event”, in “a unique natural setting, like a natural amphitheatre”. On behalf of the main sponsor, Antonio González said it is “a contest that represents values we share, such as effort, adaptability and respect for the environment”, and stressed Red Eléctrica’s commitment to women’s sport.
Photo: Edu Bartolomé
