Ten years ago padel was something you tried on holiday in Marbella. Now it is the default racket sport on this coast, and if you are renting a villa here for a year, the distance to the nearest court matters more than you would think.
Padel is doubles, played on a 20 by 10 metre court with glass and mesh walls, an underhand serve and a ball you are allowed to play off the back wall. The court is smaller than a tennis court, the rallies are longer, and the learning curve is short enough that a beginner can have a real game on day one. That is the whole secret of why it spread.
Court hire is the number that matters. Around Barcelona in 2026, expect roughly €20–36 an hour at peak times — weekday evenings after seven, weekends — and €12–26 in the morning or at midday. Most clubs sell 90-minute slots rather than a full hour, so a game usually lands between €30 and €55 for the court, split four ways.
Memberships run from about €50 to €95 a month plus a joining fee, which only makes sense if you play two or three times a week. Play once a week and pay-per-play is cheaper and keeps you flexible. Rackets can be rented at most clubs; balls are usually bought at the desk.
On the coast the standout is Maresme Padel Club in Premià de Mar — fourteen courts, including two panoramic centre courts, open from morning until late. Mataró has Beach Padel Club and L'Espai Laru; Argentona has UP Padel Club; Vilassar de Dalt has VilaSport. In the city, CEM Maresme on Carrer de Pallars has five outdoor courts and sits five minutes from Diagonal Mar, and SorliSport runs a group of clubs across Barcelona, Maresme and Sitges.
Two practical notes. Clubs rename, move and change their booking systems more often than you would expect, so confirm by phone or in the club's own app before you turn up with three friends. And most clubs run partidos abiertos — open games where a solo player joins a group at their level. If you move here knowing nobody, that is how you meet people.
An outdoor court at six in the evening in July is a frying pan. The glass throws heat back at you, there is no shade, and the ball gets lively. Locals play at eight or nine in the morning, or after ten at night under lights. Indoor courts cost more but come with fans and, in the better clubs, actual air conditioning. If you are renting a house with a pool, the routine writes itself: court at nine, pool at eleven.
Rarely. A padel court needs 20 by 10 metres of flat ground plus walls and four metres of clearance, which is a lot to ask from a Maresme hillside plot. What you do find are villas with tennis courts, some of which have been converted or lined for padel. The conversion is not trivial, and the owner will want a conversation about it. If a listing claims a private padel court, ask for a photo of the whole court and the exact dimensions.
Play three times a week and the practical belt is Premià de Mar, Vilassar, Mataró and Argentona, where the clubs are and where you can reach them without a twenty-minute drive each way. If you are set on a hillside villa above Cabrils or Alella, you will be driving — ten to fifteen minutes to the nearest club, which is fine until it is raining and the match is at nine at night.
And if you have children, ask about the club's school before you sign the lease. Padel is now part of the after-school routine in a lot of Maresme towns, and a club with a decent junior programme is worth more to family life than a bigger garden.
One honest caveat: padel is addictive, and the cost creeps. A court twice a week plus a membership plus the after-match beer adds up to a monthly number that surprises people. Budget it before you fall in love with the club.
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