Few sports clubs require a tie and jacket in their restaurant, winter or summer. The Real Club Puerta de Hierro in Madrid is one of them. Nor is it a sacrifice: it is the most normal thing in the world for its 16,000 members. “Playing golf twenty minutes from downtown is a privilege. If we expanded the number of partners, it would become impossible,” says a lawyer who moves between Barcelona and Madrid, a partner since the day he was born, fifty years ago. “Don't put my name, the elitist thing comes out right away.”
The oldest sports clubs in Spain, centuries old and linked to horse riding, polo, golf or tennis, are usually torn between the dilemma of expanding the number of members and cleaning up their accounts – at the cost of saturating their facilities – or restricting admissions and thus avoiding that comment so typical of veterans: “This club is no longer what it was!”
And what do we do with the rule – typical of Spain without divorces or de facto couples – that spouses have the automatic right to register with special conditions? Today, a member can divorce or remarry people who already have children – susceptible to the same special conditions – so that a member ends up quietly “contributing” to the club ten members, a figure reserved for large families of the 20th century.
If there was a Madrid DF, Puerta de Hierro would be its country club (“The place where the Entrecanales and the Bourbons get married,” subtitled a Vanitatis report). There are no second chances here: he only governs the right to enter as a partner-spouse once. “The policy is that no new members enter now that we are below 17,000. A way of saying that second loves are over,” comments the aforementioned partner.
The entity has declined to confirm this policy, citing its confidentiality rules. Among its specificities is that all ambassadors accredited in Madrid and members of the Government of Spain – strictly only ministers – have the right to use the facilities, something that Minister Óscar Puente has done on two occasions (the only one of the executive in doing it).
“On the weekends it gets impossible but it is what it is.” comments a 40-year-old member of the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona. The expansion of more than 400 members two years ago injected funds but accentuated the difficulty in reserving courts at peak times. “A sports club with a reputation is always a source of complaints,” another veteran of the entity observes phlegmatically (“it bothers me, for example, that there are young members who take advantage of the cafeteria with their computer and take over the tables.” , comments the aforementioned partner). However, the Real Club de Polo maintains facilities for members who marry or formalize de facto couples, no matter how many times (there are optimists!). “It doesn't matter if it's your first, second or third marriage. Nobody loses the benefit and there are no limitations. This also applies to the children of either of them,” says a spokesperson for the Barcelona entity. And the economic difference for admission between a new partner or a spouse partner is substantial: 35,000 euros versus 5,550.
“As the titles are individualized, there is no case regarding spouses or new partners. It does not affect us if she remarries or is widowed,” says Peter González, director of the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona.
Divorces can be a problem in these clubs, where almost everyone knows each other – sometimes too much. Meeting again on a nearby court or in the social area can always create tensions, as can the appearance of new partners. “Of course these things happen and it is uncomfortable because they are small areas,” admits Peter González. Everything ends up depending on what we call “knowing how to be”.
The most notorious recent brawl occurred in 2022 at the Real Club La Moraleja, focused on golf. A Mexican financier wanted to withdraw his ex-wife's partner title (valued at around 20,000 euros) and in the middle of the dispute he showed up one summer day with a 25-year-old Brazilian guest who was walking around topless “and wearing the smallest thong I've ever seen.” seen in my life,” according to a witness told the ABC newspaper. The rules prohibit toplessness and the affectionately called “first wives club” made it known to them. No way. The young woman bit the lifeguard's ear, accused the members of having an inactive sexual life, while the drunken partner proposed to have a threesome with one of those present and urinated, among other vulgarities, on the lawn. the pool. Anyone has a bad day.
