The Spanish towns of Quintanar del Rey, Polinyà, Pradejón and Altura have qualified for the semi-finals of RTVE game show Grand Prix del Verano.
The four municipalities secured their places after the sixth and final qualifying gala of the summer competition. The municipality of Blanca, located in the Region of Murcia, won the final elimination match against the Galician town of Muros with a score of 26 to 23, but missed out on the top four spots required to advance.
Blanca finished the regular qualifying phase in sixth place overall despite its victory in the broadcast hosted by veteran presenter Ramón García on public broadcaster RTVE channel La 1.
Opening games and early lead
The competitive gala opened with the Golden Card challenge, where Ricky, the captain of Blanca's yellow team, successfully held on to secure a wildcard worth two bonus points in the event of a victory. Blanca tried to capitalize on the tactical advantage during the obstacle race over the pool in Los Kimonos, but a two-all banana tie neutralized the bonus and split three points to each side.
Muros took control in the blown table football game Champions Prix, scoring four goals to deal a heavy blow to the Murcian side. Blanca responded in Mission Carrot, a rodent-costumed obstacle relay where high-intensity racing caused physical damage to props on the studio set.
Grand Prix del Verano is a long-running Spanish television game show on RTVE where small municipalities compete against each other in physical games, trivia contests, and obstacle courses for seasonal bragging rights.
Mayor scores in hot potato challenge
Blanca maintained its momentum through Penguin Duck Shooting before moving into Hot Potato. During the trivia challenge, Blanca Mayor Pablo Cano secured the decisive point by correctly answering a question regarding the history of the National Police.
The yellow team established a string of consecutive victories across classic events, taking Superchefs by a narrow margin of 12 seconds and winning Mathematical Penguins following an official referee photo finish. Muros attempted a rally in Alice in the Land of Baskets, but Blanca extended its lead after navigating the log obstacle course in Crazy Logs.
Bowling dominance and dictionary final
Blanca reached its highest physical lead in Superbowling, where bowler Julen knocked down seven opposing pins while taking verbal instructions from team godmother and journalist Lourdes Maldonado in the stands. The segment generated widespread social media attention following an impromptu rumba of the brave bowling pin dance and comedic commentary regarding the visual acuity of television personality Mario Vaquerizo, leaving Blanca ahead 28 to 19.
Muros narrowed the gap during the final vocabulary round, The Dictionary, by correctly defining two words while Blanca answered only one. The three-point gain brought the final heat score to 26 to 23 in favor of Blanca.
Standings and upcoming semi-finals
Despite securing the match victory, Blanca ended the regular phase with 26 total points, leaving them outside the four highest-scoring teams. Quintanar del Rey from Cuenca topped the seasonal leaderboard with 42 points, followed by Catalan town Polinyà with 36 points, La Rioja municipality Pradejón with 32 points, and Castellón town Altura with 29 points.
The semi-final stage begins next week on La 1, featuring direct knockout matchups between Polinyà and Pradejón in one bracket, and Altura against Quintanar del Rey in the other, to decide who moves on to the grand final.
