Discover the winners of the V Pre-University Debate League CICAE-UCJC

On March 12 and 13, the grand final of the V Pre-University Debate League took place, the biggest and most prestigious in Europe and the only one in Spanish and English, organized by the Association of Private and Independent Schools (CICAE) and Camilo José Cela University, in collaboration with the Repsol Foundation.

During this grand final, which took place online, 320 pupils took part from 29 schools throughout Spain. They showed their public speaking skills, encouraging critical thinking, socialization, and entrepreneurship.

The question that the different participating teams debated and shared their reflections on was: “Is the rapid surge e-commerce is having in society positive?” The question, proposed on this occasion by the Repsol Foundation, generates a very wide debate, as e-commerce affects society in very different ways. 

The winning schools of the Debate League CICAE-UCJC final were Colegio Internacional Lope de Vega (Benidorm) and the Mirabal International School (Boadilla del Monte, Madrid) in the Spanish and English finals respectively. Moreover, the best public speakers were Alejandra Alemany (Colegio Arturo Soria), Flora Bosch (Montessori Palau Girona), and Ana Pérez (Mirabal International School).

The two winning teams will receive a prize from the Repsol Foundation which consists of a cultural and educational excursion to a city, in a sustainable mode of transport. Furthermore, the youngsters received training from experts who taught them the keys to debating and communication. Raquel Martos, journalist, screenwriter, and writer, was the ambassador of this final and made them aware of the importance of communication “as a tool that allows us to connect with the brain and heart of other people.”

With more than 1,000 pupils, with a simultaneous competition in two languages, with more than 30 schools involved, and with an unprecedented deployment of technical and training resources, the Debate League CICAE-UCJC has become the biggest in Europe.