Castleford Tigers set to take rugby league on the road in 2026

Castleford Tigers are taking part of their pre-season on the road and heading abroad for a rugby league festival in January 2026.

The Tigers will headline the Benidorm Bash from January 6th to 10th next year, where they will take on Valencia Huracanes in the showcase event on Saturday 10th.

The five-day rugby league festival will also feature a Nines competition across two days, as well as a beach rugby competition and a game between Spain’s Alicante Cruzados and Leeds’ Kippax Welfare.

It’s part of a two-year agreement between the two clubs to grow the game in Spain and tie in a pre-season warm-weather camp for the Tigers.

The 2025 game saw four twenty-minute halves and reduced contact between the two sides, with the Tigers claiming a 50-8 victory over Valencia.

Castleford Tigers helping to grow rugby league in Spain

It remains to be seen if those rules will apply to the 2026 fixture or not, but it will be the perfect experience to blood any youngsters and potential new signings before a new Super League campaign begins.

The 2025 game saw new halfback Daejarn Asi feature as one of the try scorers too before the Tigers returned to the UK to continue their pre-season

This year’s game also gave the opportunity for one Tigers fan to play in the game, where they joined the team for a full pre-match warm-up and then featured on the field during the final five minutes of the game.

Again, it’s unclear if Castleford will offer this experience for next season, but any Castleford fan on the trip is sure to enjoy the trip regardless.

The Huracanes were only founded in 2020 and played their first game against Championship side Featherstone Rovers in January 2020.

Rovers came out on top with a 102-14 scoreline, running in nineteen tries in total.

Valencia did have aspirations of joining League 1 the following season, but Covid put a dampener on those plans.

Castleford Tigers to Headline Final Day of the Benidorm Bash This January.

Castleford Tigers are thrilled to announce they will headline the final day of the Benidorm Bash, taking place from Tuesday 6th January to Saturday 10th January.

Joining the Tigers for the exciting… pic.twitter.com/DMKV8KPkQX

— Castleford Tigers (@CTRLFC) May 11, 2025