The UAB wins Vives Network's University Debate League
The UAB was proclaimed champion of the University Debate League of the Vives Network of Universities on Wednesday 29 April, at the University of Alacant. The UAB team debated for three days around the question "Is democracy in danger?", defeating 16 university teams from Valencia, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
The UAB wins this year's University Debate League of the Vives Network of Universities, which took place from 27 to 29 April at the University of Alacant. After a very close match, the jury proclaimed the UAB team as the winner of the 2026 edition, ahead of the University of Alacant team. In addition, the jury awarded Maria Toste Martínez, member of the Pompeu Fabra University team, with the prize of best speaker of the competition.
The winning UAB team was made up of three students: Jan Sarkar Cuadrado (Medicine), Alejandro Pascual Peiró (Communication) and Laia Abenza Romero (Engineering), captain of the team.
The UAB's track record in this competition is quite outstanding. In the past eleven years, the UAB teams won in 2023 (with the debate on whether or not tourism was sustainable), in 2019 (on whether or not surrogacy should be legalised) and in 2015 (on whether a society based on non-monetary exchanges could function).
For three days, 16 university teams from Valencia, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands debated a topical issue of high social relevance: "Is democracy in danger?" Throughout the competition, participants had to defend both positions in favour and against this topic, in an exercise in argumentation that tested critical capacity, discursive solvency, and intellectual flexibility.
The event began with an elimination phase between participating teams, and on the last day the semifinals and the grand final were disputed between the teams with the highest accumulated points.
Regarding the profile of participants, Social Sciences and Law studies predominated (65%), followed by Humanities (14%), Engineering (11%), and Science (8%); with a balanced participation between women (51%) and men (49%). Eighty per cent are pursuing bachelor's or master's degrees, while 20% are enrolled in double degree programmes.