World Universities Debating Championship in Spanish


The World Universities Debating Championship in Spanish or Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español is the world's largest and most important debating tournament in Spanish.
It is a parliamentary debating event, held using the British Parliamentary Debate format. The tournament the winners of the open competition are acknowledged as the "World Champions" of debating in Spanish.
The 2016 tournament was held at Universidad de Córdoba in Spain. The 2017 edition will be held at Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala.

Format

The Championship is held in the Northern Hemisphere summer.
The competition involves nine preliminary rounds, which become power-paired as the tournament progresses, matching the strongest-performing teams against each other. Two teams form the government and two the opposition in each debate room. The process of scoring and pairing these teams is known as tabbing. The scoring of teams is done by judges, most of whom are students or former students from the competing institutions, who return ballots with their scores to the adjudication team, led by a Chief Adjudicator who is assisted by one or more deputies.
The nine preliminary rounds are followed by a break at which the teams proceeding to elimination rounds are announced. In the current tournament format, 32 teams proceed to the octo-finals, with the best 2 from each debate qualifying for the quarter-finals, and the best 2 of each quarter-final subsequently proceed to the semi-finals, and the best 2 of each semi-final subsequently proceed to the Grand Final.
In addition, a public speaking competition is also open to all participants in CMUDE. Since edition held in México in 2014 a Nation's World Cup and a Spanish As a Second Language tournament were introduced.

Particularities

There are some differences with the English-speaking version of the tournament. One of them is that there is no limit on the number of teams that a university may register to the tournament as long as they fulfill the "n-1" rule, where "n" represents the number of teams they bring to the tournament and "n-1" is the number of judges they need to provide.
México 2014 introduced a Nations World Cup. While in English Worlds usually this competition is not taken on a serious manner, in the Spanish-speaking version it was envisioned for just one team per nation but the format has also evolved each year, and sometimes more than one team per nation have been allowed, or "humor" has been considered one of the evaluating elements in 2015 and 2019.
Composite teams are allowed at times, usually when there is no other way of guaranteeing participation for students from a university.
The "language status" tournament also has a key difference with Worlds. While Worlds' "ESL" and "EFL" tournaments are only for the teams that were not able or decide not to break into the Open tournament, the "Español como Segunda Lengua" competition features a break of all teams eligible due to their language condition regardless of their performance on the main break, thus crowning the outright "Spanish As a Second Language" world champions.
Some editions have given focus to social service, including a full day was dedicated to teach debate to local students in 2014.

Past Champions and Hosts

World Universities Championship

AñoSedeCampeonesSubcampeonesSemifinalistasCuartos de finalOctavos de final
2025
Universidad del Caribe

Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
Mauricio Jarufe y Fernanda Crousillat

Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona
Andreu Garcia y Luis Felipe Garcia
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia
Pau Garcia y Manuel Gámez
Universidad del Rosario
Juan Esteban Triviño y Daniela Leyton

EUNEIZ
Isabella Vásquez y Amadeo Gavilano
Tec CEM
Aranza Valadez y Esteban Valle
Tec CEM
Manolo Vazquez y Mauricio San Román
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Mariana Yáñez y Brandom Pascual
TBATBA
2024
Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana
/
IDS / Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso
Marcela Gómez y Mattias Durán

Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
Diego Nuñez y Sebastian Ezeta
Universidad del Rosario
Jessica Zapata y Andres Revelo
/
Universidad San Francisco de Quito / EID
Angelo Saavedra y Carlo Giron

Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
Fernanda Crousillat y Jorge Godos
Universidad de Almería / Universidad CEU San Pablo
Jesús Gómez "Capi" y Grego Colao
Universidad de los Andes
Santiago Ortiz e Isabella Mojica
Colegio Mayor Universitario Elías Ahuja
Carlos Montero y Mario de la Hoz

Universidad Francisco de Vitoria
Álvaro Mora y Álvaro Flores
Universidad de Chile
Florencia Atria y Noam Vilches
Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas
Janine Castagnola y Sergio Pérez
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Pablo Ponce y Fernanda Roig
Universidad Católica Andrés Bello
Luis Fernando Narváez y Ellis Alberti
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia
Manuel Gámez y Pau García
Universidad del Rosario
Laura Cabrera y Laura Sua
BSE / Leuven
Luis Felipe García y Pablo Lamiquiz
/
Universidad César Vallejo / IFP
Angel Moreno Huaccha y Pablo Martinez
TEC CEM
Mariana Elechiguerra y Javier Márquez
Universidad Pompeu Fabra / Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña
Ángela Buquet y Bruno Gómez
Universidad Central de Venezuela
Nelson Pernia y Ana Victoria Ascanio
Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra
Francisco Javier Ricardo Morrobel y Belén Lobo
Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona
Andreu Garcia y Horacio Lamela
Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín
Manu Zapata y David Cardona Duque
UdeG
Josué Torres y Luisa Velázquez
Universidad Central de Venezuela
John Parada y Camila Rivas
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Cristhian Mora y Gabriel Muriel
ITAM / Colegio de México
Zaid Cano y Daniel Kelly
Universidad Católica Andrés Bello
David Varillas y Camila Carballo
Universidad del Rosario
Juan Esteban Triviño y Daniela Leyton
Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá
Ana Nari Carrillo Y Emmanuel Domínguez
TEC CEM
Lino Mialma y Manolo Vázquez
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
Nataly Vásquez y Felipe Huerta
2023
Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá

Universidad Internacional de Catalunya
Amadeo Gavilano e Isabella Vásquez
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
Mauricio Jarufe Caballero y Arianna Pantoja Romero
Universidad Complutense de Madrid / Sociedad de Debates Complutense
Pedro Tomás y Raúl Viñas
Universidad del Rosario
Andrés Revelo y Juan Esteban Triviño
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
Joaquín Linares y Andrea Quispe
Tec CEM
Natalia García y Benjamín Vigueras
Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín
David Cardona Duque y Manu Zapata Jiménez
Universidad de los Andes
Santiago Ortiz y Carlo Girón
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente
Valeria Corona y Tlali Olivarez
Universidad San Francisco de Quito
Arturo Javier Ñamu y Angelo Saavedra
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Juanjo García y Cristina Oñate
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
Luis Eduardo Valverde Ramos y Diego Núñez del Prado Velarde
Colegio Mayor Elías Ahúja
Mario de la Hoz y Carlos Montero
Universidad Central de Venezuela
Nelson Pernia y Ana Ascanio
Tec CEM
Lino González y Manolo Vázquez
Universidad de Barcelona
Luis Felipe García y Mark Ripol
Universidad Católica Andrés Bello
Diego Maciel y Luis Fernando Narváez
Universidad de Murcia
Carmen Puente e Ignacio Fenollar
Universidad Santa María la Antigua
Diego Rubio y Oscar Prado
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Christian Mundaca y Rose Vento
Universidad Católica Andrés Bello
Ellis Alberti y Beatriz Tirado
Universidad Francisco de Vitoria
Álvaro Mora y Horacio Lamela
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
Tony Barturen y Fabriccio Luna
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
Alvaro Torres y Martín Villanueva
Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas
Lexie Tello y Sergio Pérez
Universidad Complutense de Madrid / Sociedad de Debates Comunicate
José Luis Muñoz y Julio Lozano
CEU San Pablo
Maider Bernabé y Ceres Calatayud
Tec CEM
Mariana Sandoval y Samantha Rivadeneira
CEU San Pablo
Rocío Alberola y Marta Guerra
Universidad Metropolitana de Caracas
Tomás Romero y Marielena Ginez
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Sebastián Becerra y Cristhian Mora
Universidad Francisco de Vitoria
Álvaro Flores y Alejandro Baena
2022EspañaMEXESPPERESPESPPERCOLPERCOLMEXPANESPESPCOLESPPERECUVENCOLESPMEXESPPERESPESPCOLVENESPESPESPESPMEX

Best Speakers

YearHostsBest SpeakerRunner-upThird placeForeign Language
2020/2021 Universidad Complutense de Madrid Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de México
Samuel Ortiz
Institute of Development Studies
Marcela Goméz
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey
Rubén Sanchez
2019 Universidad ESAN Lima Universidad del Rosario
Juanita Hincapié
Universidad del Rosario
Jorge Portocarrero
Universidad Pontificia Comillas
Elena Gillis
&
Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona

Cornell University Leonardo Grageda
2018 Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso Universidad Pontificia Comillas Antonio Fabregat Universidad Pontificia Comillas
Javier de la Puerta
Universidad Autonóma de Madrid
Guillermo Serrano
Universidad CEU San Pablo
Jorge Álvarez

Cornell University
2017 Universidad Francisco Marroquín Ciudad de Guatemala Escuela de Finanzas
Aida González
Escuela de Finanzas
Iván Olmos Ferreiro
Universidad Pontificia Comillas
Javier Alberite
- Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México
Kyung-Tak Woo

2016 Universidad de Córdoba Córdoba Universidad Pontificia Comillas Antonio Fabregat CEPC
Irene Miguelsanz Villanueva
Universidad Pontificia Comillas
Javier de la Puerta
2015 Universidad del Rosario Bogotá Universidad Pontificia Comillas
Antonio Fabregat
Universidad Pontificia Comillas
Alberto de Unzurrunzaga Rubio
Universidad de Murcia
Pilar Rodríguez Losantos
Universidad Autonóma de Madrid
Irene Miguelsanz Villanueva
2014 Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México Atizapán de Zaragoza Universidad de Extremadura
Gonzalo Alonso Pinto
Universidad de Extremadura
Carlos Seseńa Vaquero
Universidad Andrés Bello Fernando Vera
2013 Universidad Complutense Madrid Universidad Central de Venezuela María Gabriela Vicent Allende Universidad de Extremadura
Carlos Seseńa Vaquero
Universidad Andrés Bello Ricardo Gómez
2012 Universidad Andrés Bello Santiago Universidad de Chile Santiago
Daniel Iribarren Abarca
Universidad Central de Venezuela
Rita Sleiman
Universidad de Chile Santiago
Nicolás Palma
2011 Universidad Central de Venezuela Caracas Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Camila Salazar-Simpson
Universidad Andrés Bello
Nicole Hansen
Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México
David Alatorre López
-

Performance by country

  • Updated until Peru 2019.
CountryChampionsRunner-upsSemifinalistsQuarter FinalistsBest Result EverBest Ever Ranked Speaker
31410211st1st
3410161st1st
234131st1st
12271st1st
04662nd2nd
01182nd10th
00205th35th
*00105th-
00029th91st
000117th61st
000017th95th
000017th-
000028th26th
000039th67th
000043rd47th
000044th63rd
000078th-
000078th-
000082nd150th
0000105th64th
0000105th-
0000117th221st
0000-36th
0000-89th
0000-100th
0000-125th
0000-211th
0000-218th
0000-218th

  • The students did not have ties to an institution from Hong Kong.

Judges' Cup / Nations Cup

YearHostsChampionsRunner-upSemifinalistsQuarterfinalists
2020/2021 Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Diego Duarte, Giza Pavone, Juanita Hincapie
&
Jorge Bullon, Giovanni Begossi, Adriana Barrantes
&
Sebastián Ezeta, Fabián Yaksic, Fernanda Crousillat
&
Erika Silva, Valeria Hernandez y Daniel Espinosa
No Quarters Break
2019 Universidad ESAN Lima Jorge Álvarez Palomino, Víctor Corpa Rubio & Iñigo Vallejo

Mixed Team
No Quarters Break
2018 Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso Chile
Valeria Hernández, Mariana Morales, David Alatorre López
Gonzalo Herreros, Aida González, Francisco ValienteNorth America Carlos Ortega, Roberto Romeu, Oliver Leung

No Quarters Break
2017
Universidad Francisco Marroquín Guatemala Londoño, Bermúdez, Gutiérrez López, Carvajal, Duarte & Luisa Salazar, Salma Infante Osorio, David Alatorre López
Deza, Ruiz, Lozano

2016
Universidad de Córdoba Córdoba Critina Guerrero, Jorge Whyte, de la Virgen, Alberto Buscató Nicholas Ferezin, Alfredo Díaz Barriga, David Alatorre López
Nicole Hansen

Mixed Team
Mixed Team
Mixed Team
2015 Universidad del Rosario Bogotá

2014 Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México Atizapán de Zaragoza
Central America

Mixed Team

Judges' Cup Speakers

YearHostsBest SpeakerRunner-upThird
2020 Universidad Complutense de Madrid Juanita Hincapié
2019 Universidad ESAN Lima
Diego Cabrera
None awardedNone awarded
2018 Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso Chile
Carlos Ortega
Francisco Valiente
Mariana Morales
2017 Universidad Francisco Marroquín Guatemala Juan Martín Londoño
Ernesto Deza
David Alatorre López
-

Spanish As A Second Language

YearHostsChampionsRunners-up
2019 Universidad ESAN Lima Cornell University
Luz Dybner & Sara Stober
Colgate University
2018 Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso Chile Cornell University
Brittany Garcia & Estefanía Palacios

Cornell University
University of La Verne
University of North Georgia
2017 Universidad Francisco Marroquín Guatemala University of Denver
Selene Figueroa & Quinn Seremet
-
2016 Universidad de Córdoba Córdoba TU Munich
Warwick
Reinhold Koch &
Katrin Fallmann
University of Denver
HSE
Wageningen University
2015 Universidad del Rosario Bogotá Maastricht University
Felix Plassman & Alexander Wisse
Colgate University
HSE
2014 Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México Atizapán de Zaragoza Willamette University
Shamir Cervantes &
Andrés Oswill
Colgate University