This sports-based partnership opens up numerous exciting opportunities to promote Istria as a premier tourist destination. The collaboration between the Istria Tourist Board and the Basque company Baskonia-Alaves Group began modestly upon the group’s arrival in Pula.

The Baskonia-Alaves Group owns the Spanish La Liga football club Deportivo Alavés and the EuroLeague basketball club Saski Baskonia. Since 2018, it has also been the majority owner of Istra 1961, Pula’s top-tier football club.

One of the world’s most prestigious and exciting football leagues, the Spanish Primera, along with the EuroLeague and Spain’s ACB basketball competition — home to the current European champions — will serve as high-profile platforms to promote Istria and Istrian tourism starting in February 2024. This initiative is the result of a collaboration between the Istria Tourist Board and the Basque company Baskonia-Alaves Group.

“Istria has become the new official sponsor of Baskonia and Deportivo Alavés. This partnership includes a range of initiatives, such as illuminating and displaying the Istria logo on the court during EuroLeague games, which will help enhance Istria’s visibility and reputation among sports audiences,” the Baskonia-Alaves Group announced following the signing of the cooperation agreement.

Football club Deportivo Alavés has competed in the elite tier of Spanish football, with the exception of one season, since 2016. However, it is the basketball team Baskonia that has enjoyed far greater success both domestically and internationally. Baskonia has claimed the Spanish championship title several times and, as a regular participant in every edition of the EuroLeague since its founding in 2000 — alongside only a few other clubs — stands among the elite of European basketball.

One of the team’s three Spanish championship titles was won under the guidance of Croatian coach Neven Spahija, while during the first part of the 2019/2020 season — when the team secured its most recent title — another Croatian, Velimir Perasović, held the coaching position.

Among the many notable players who have worn the Vitoria-based club’s jersey are Luis Scola, Andrés Nocioni, Pablo Prigioni, Elmer Bennett, Igor Rakočević, Tiago Splitter, Tornike Shengelia, Arvydas Macijauskas, Mirza Teletović, Ioannis Bourousis, José Manuel Calderón, and Marcelinho Huertas.