{"id":19734,"date":"2026-03-25T09:00:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T09:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cicae.com\/a-school-from-girona-and-another-from-seville-were-crowned-champions-in-the-grand-finale-of-europes-largest-high-school-debate-league-after-a-decade-of-competition\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T13:42:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T13:42:54","slug":"a-school-from-girona-and-another-from-seville-were-crowned-champions-in-the-grand-finale-of-europes-largest-high-school-debate-league-after-a-decade-of-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cicae.com\/en\/a-school-from-girona-and-another-from-seville-were-crowned-champions-in-the-grand-finale-of-europes-largest-high-school-debate-league-after-a-decade-of-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"A school from Girona and another from Seville were crowned champions in the grand finale of Europe’s largest high school debate league, after a decade of competition"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Montessori Palau won in Spanish and Yago School in English in an edition that brought together middle school and high school students to tackle an extremely demanding geopolitical challenge<\/strong>
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Madrid, March 23, 2026.\u2014<\/strong> The CICAE-UCJC Debate League held its grand finale, putting the finishing touch on a decade-long journey that has established it as Europe\u2019s largest school debate competition. This historic edition brought together nearly 300 students from more than 30 schools across Spain and solidified the impact of a unique educational project offered in a bilingual format. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Spanish language category, Montessori Palau School (Girona) took first place, and Sauces Torrelodones School took second place, while in English, the Yago School (Seville) was crowned champion and San Patricio International School took second place <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An extremely challenging intellectual challenge for middle school and high school students<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The participants\u2014students ranging from 3rd year of ESO to 2nd year of Bachillerato\u2014faced a particularly complex challenge: debating a highly topical international geopolitical issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question posed\u2014which focused on the role of the international community in the face of humanitarian crises and human rights violations\u2014required students to conduct in-depth research, gather documentation, and analyze evidence, while handling complex information and constructing solid arguments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, the tournament format\u2014which randomly assigns \u201cfor\u201d or \u201cagainst\u201d positions before each debate\u2014has presented an added challenge: defending diverse positions with rigor, competence, and adaptability, even on particularly sensitive and difficult topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ten Years of Fostering Critical Thinking<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This grand finale was not just a competition, but the culmination of a decade of educational work. Over the past ten years, the CICAE-UCJC Debate League has established itself as a European leader in developing skills such as public speaking, critical thinking, and argumentation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year’s event also included a heartfelt tribute to the teachers who have driven the project forward since its inception, recognizing their key role in preparing the students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognition of Individual Talent<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tournament also recognized excellence in communication with awards for best speaker:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • Pablo Garc\u00eda, from SEK Ciudalcampo School<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Jagoda Rafal, from SEK Catalunya School (English program)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    A Communication Expert’s Perspective<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The final was attended by Antena 3 journalist Roc\u00edo Mart\u00ednez, who highlighted the caliber and scope of the project:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to see the caliber of these students. Their analytical skills, confidence in expressing themselves, and respect in dialogue are admirable. Initiatives like this don\u2019t just educate students\u2014they shape citizens who are prepared for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Much more than just a competition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Throughout the course, students receive specialized training from experts in debate and public speaking, making the league a true school of communication, critical thinking, and leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Today, after ten years, the CICAE-UCJC Debate League is not only celebrating a final\u2014it is celebrating a decade of building the largest school debate community in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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    Montessori Palau won in Spanish and Yago School in English in an edition that brought together middle school and high school students to tackle an extremely demanding geopolitical challenge Madrid, March 23, 2026.\u2014 The CICAE-UCJC Debate League held its grand finale, putting the finishing touch on a decade-long journey that has established it as Europe\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[401,596,603],"tags":[599,70,598],"class_list":["post-19734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activities","category-cicae","category-schools","tag-assembly","tag-cicae","tag-members-meeting"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cicae.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cicae.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cicae.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cicae.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cicae.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19734"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cicae.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19735,"href":"https:\/\/www.cicae.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19734\/revisions\/19735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cicae.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cicae.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cicae.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cicae.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}