# World Universities Debating Championship in Spanish

The World Universities Debating Championship in Spanish or Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español (CMUDE) 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 (proposition in the UK and North America) 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" (Spanish As Second Language) 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

| Year | Hosts | Winners | Finalists | Semifinalists | Quarter Finalists |
| 2020/2021 | Spain Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Held Online) | Peru Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú Francisco Vergara y Mauricio Jarufe | Mexico Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey Rubén Sanchez y Benjamín Vigueras  Chile Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaiso Fernando Contreras González y Matti Durán Santis  Mexico Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de México y Institute of Development Studies Marcela Gómez y Samuel Ortiz | Peru Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (x2)  Mexico Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey  Spain Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia | Peru Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (x2)  Colombia Universidad Nacional de Colombia  Ecuador Universidad San Francisco de Quito  Spain Universidad de Oviedo  Colombia Universidad del Rosario  Peru Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal  Colombia Universidad Externado de Colombia |
| 2019 | Peru Universidad ESAN Lima | Colombia Universidad del Rosario Juanita Hincapié & Jorge Portocarrero | Spain Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Carmen Sánchez & Enrique Marchán  Colombia Universidad del Rosario Hernando José Castro Palma & Ana Díaz Ávila  Spain Universidad Rey Juan Carlos Alejandro Bellanco Sánchez & Desirée Herrera Rodríguez | United States Cornell University*  Hong Kong Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Composite**  Mexico Universidad Iberoamericana (Ciudad de México)  Spain Universidad de Bárcelona & Universidad Autónoma de Bárcelona | Spain Universidad CEU San Pablo  Spain Universidad Pontificia de Comillas  Chile Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile  Peru Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú  Spain Universidad Autónoma de Madrid  Spain Universidad Complutense de Madrid  Spain Universidad Francisco de Vitoria  Panama Universidad Santa María la Antigua |
| 2018 | Chile Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso | SpainFundación Cánovas Cánovas A (Málaga) María García & Carmen Vallecillo | Spain Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (B) Pablo Molins & Carlos Pérez  Colombia Universidad del Rosario (C) Juanita Hincapié y Jorge Portocarrero  Spain Universidad Pontificia de Comillas ICAI-ICADE (B) Javier Alberite & Luis Ignacio Belzuz | Spain Universidad Autónoma de Madrid  Spain Universidad Pontificia de ComillasICAI-ICADE (D)  Mexico Universidad de Guadalajara Virtual (A)  Mexico Universidad de Guadalajara CUCEA (A) | Spain Universidad Carlos III  Spain CMU Loyola  Spain ISIPA  Mexico Universidad de Guadalajara CUCSH (A)  Panama Universidad Santa María La Antigua |
| 2017 | Guatemala Universidad Francisco Marroquín Guatemala | Spain Universidad Pontificia Comillas ICAI-ICADE (A) Antonio Fabregat & Javier De La Puerta | Spain Universidad de Córdoba Álvaro Ortega & Gonzalo Herreros  Spain Universidad Pontificia Comillas ICAI-ICADE (B) Javier Alberite & Didier Martín Díaz  Colombia Universidad del Rosario Ángela Parra Rojas & Paula Ovalle | Spain Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM)  Spain UMA - CÁNOVAS  Colombia Universidad del Rosario  United States Cornell University | Mexico Tec de Monterrey (Campus Estado de México)  Peru Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú (x2)  Colombia Universidad de los Andes  Spain SICODI  Peru Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos  Spain Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia  Colombia Pontificia Universidad Javeriana  Spain Universidad Francisco de Vitoria |
| 2016 | Spain Universidad de Córdoba Córdoba | Spain Universidad de Santiago de Compostela Aida González Vázquez & Atenea Luana | Mexico Universidad de Guadalajara Ricardo Acosta & Julio César Aguilar  Peru PUCP Fernando Tincopa & Diego Mera  Spain UAM Juncal León & Guillermo Serrano | Mexico Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México  Colombia Universidad del Rosario  Spain Universidad Pontificia Comillas  Spain Escuela de Finanzas | Colombia Universidad del Rosario  Spain Universidad Pontificia Comillas  Chile Universidad Andrés Bello Noam Vilches & David Hansen  Mexico Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México  Spain Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales  Peru Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú  Spain Universidad de Córdoba  Spain Universidad Francisco de Vitoria |
| 2015 | Colombia Universidad del Rosario Bogotá | Colombia Universidad del Rosario Santiago Vásquez & Daniel Cardona | Mexico Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México Mariana Morales & Valeria Conde  Spain Universidad Autonóma de Madrid Irene Miguelsanz Villanueva & Mariella de la Cruz Taboada  Spain Universidad de Murcia Pilar Rodríguez Losantos & Sergio Melero | Mexico Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México  Colombia Universidad Nacional de Bogotá  Peru Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú  Spain Universidad de Comillas | Peru Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú  Colombia Universidad de Medellín (x2)  Spain Universidad de Córdoba  Mexico Universidad de Guadalajara CUCSCH  Colombia Universidad del Rosario  Colombia Universidad Nacional de Bogotá  Colombia Universidad de Tolima |
| 2014 | Mexico Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México Atizapán de Zaragoza | Colombia Universidad del Rosario Arturo Vallejo & Daniel Cardona | Spain Universidad de Córdoba Gonzalo Herreros Moya & Jorge Lucena Pérez  Spain Universidad Autonóma de Madrid Irene Miguelsanz Villanueva & Javier Moreta Llovet  Spain Universidad Pontificia Comillas Antonio Fabregat & Alberto de Unzurrunzaga Rubio | Colombia Universidad del Rosario  Spain Universidad de Murcia  Colombia Universidad de Tolima  Spain Universidad de Córdoba | Peru Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú  Chile Universidad de Chile  Colombia Universidad Nacional de Colombia- sede Medellín  Colombia Universidad Nacional de Bogotá (x2)  Chile Universidad Andrés Bello  Colombia Universidad del Rosario  Mexico Universidad de Guadalajara |
| 2013 | Spain Universidad Complutense de Madrid Madrid | Chile Universidad Andrés Bello Ricardo Gómez & Nicole Hansen | Spain Universidad Francisco de Vitoria David Ferrete Camarzana & Jorge White García  Venezuela Universidad Central de Venezuela María Gabriela Vincent Allende & Andrés Ávila  Spain Universidad de Extremadura Carlos Seseña & Gonzalo Alonso Pinto | Mexico Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México  Colombia Universidad del Rosario (x2)  Venezuela Universidad Central de Venezuela | Venezuela Universidad Central de Venezuela (x2)  Chile Universidad de Chile  Colombia Universidad de Colombia  Colombia Universidad del Rosario  Spain Universidad de Santiago de Compostela Simón Caaveiro Fraga & F. Adrián Fernández Tojo  Chile Fuerzás Aéreas de Chile  Chile Universidad Santo Tomás Viña del Mar |
| 2012 | Chile Universidad Andrés Bello Santiago | Chile Universidad de Chile Santiago Daniel Iribarren Abarca & Nicolás Palma | Chile Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso César Miranda Reyes & José Meza  Mexico Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México David Alatorre López & Rodolfo Flores Méndez  Mexico Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México José Alberto Ramírez & Valeria García | Chile Universidad Nacional Andrés Bello (x2)  Colombia Universidad del Rosario (x2) | Peru Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú  Chile Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María  Chile Universidad Nacional Andrés Bello  Venezuela Universidad Católica Andrés Bello  Chile Universidad de los Andes (x2)  Chile Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile  Chile Universidad del Desarrollo |
| 2011 | Venezuela Universidad Central de Venezuela Caracas | Venezuela Universidad Simón Bolívar Jesús Gorrín & Alain Herrera | Chile Universidad Católica Andrés Bello Nicole Hansen & Marcelo Rivera  Venezuela Universidad Central de Venezuela Howard Ávarez & Rafael Bullones  Colombia Universidad del Rosario Ingrid Rodríguez & Luisa Salazar | Chile Universidad San Sebastián  Chile Universidad de Chile  Colombia Universidad del Rosario  Venezuela Universidad Central de Venezuela | Colombia Universidad Nacional de Colombia  Venezuela Universidad Central de Venezuela (x3)  Venezuela Universidad Simón Bolívar  Mexico Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México  Colombia Universidad del Rosario  Spain Universidad Complutense de Madrid |
*One speaker was Mexican (Alatorre López) and one US American (Garcia), but both Cornell students.
**Both speakers were Peruvian: one from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (Pimentel), and one from Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (Cortijo), and did not have ties to HKUST, but were allowed to participate on representational grounds.

### Best Speakers

| Year | Hosts | Best Speaker | Runner-up | Third place | Foreign Language |
| 2020/2021 | Spain Universidad Complutense de Madrid | Mexico Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de México Samuel Ortiz | Mexico Institute of Development Studies Marcela Goméz | Mexico Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey Rubén Sanchez | |
| 2019 | Peru Universidad ESAN Lima | Colombia Universidad del Rosario Juanita Hincapié | Colombia Universidad del Rosario Jorge Portocarrero | Spain Universidad Pontificia Comillas Elena Gillis & Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (Gorka Samaniego) | United States Cornell University Leonardo Grageda ( United States, Mexico ) |
| 2018 | Chile Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso | Spain Universidad Pontificia Comillas Antonio Fabregat | Spain Universidad Pontificia Comillas Javier de la Puerta | Spain Universidad Autonóma de Madrid Guillermo Serrano  Spain Universidad CEU San Pablo Jorge Álvarez | United States Cornell University |
| 2017 | Guatemala Universidad Francisco Marroquín Ciudad de Guatemala | Spain Escuela de Finanzas Aida González | Spain Escuela de Finanzas Iván Olmos Ferreiro  Spain Universidad Pontificia Comillas Javier Alberite | None | Mexico Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México Kyung-Tak Woo ( South Korea) |
| 2016 | Spain Universidad de Córdoba Córdoba | Spain Universidad Pontificia Comillas Antonio Fabregat | Spain CEPC Irene Miguelsanz Villanueva | Spain Universidad Pontificia Comillas Javier de la Puerta | |
| 2015 | Colombia Universidad del Rosario Bogotá | Spain Universidad Pontificia Comillas Antonio Fabregat | Spain Universidad Pontificia Comillas Alberto de Unzurrunzaga Rubio  Spain Universidad de Murcia Pilar Rodríguez Losantos | Spain Universidad Autonóma de Madrid Irene Miguelsanz Villanueva | |
| 2014 | Mexico Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México Atizapán de Zaragoza | Spain Universidad de Extremadura Gonzalo Alonso Pinto | Spain Universidad de Extremadura Carlos Seseńa Vaquero | Chile Universidad Andrés Bello Fernando Vera | |
| 2013 | Spain Universidad Complutense Madrid | Venezuela Universidad Central de Venezuela María Gabriela Vicent Allende | Spain Universidad de Extremadura Carlos Seseńa Vaquero | Chile Universidad Andrés Bello Ricardo Gómez | |
| 2012 | Chile Universidad Andrés Bello Santiago | Chile Universidad de Chile Santiago Daniel Iribarren Abarca | Venezuela Universidad Central de Venezuela Rita Sleiman | Chile Universidad de Chile Santiago Nicolás Palma | |
| 2011 | Venezuela Universidad Central de Venezuela Caracas | Spain Universidad Complutense de Madrid Camila Salazar-Simpson | Chile Universidad Andrés Bello Nicole Hansen  Mexico Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México David Alatorre López | None | |

### Performance by country

* Updated until Peru 2019.
| Country | Champions | Runner-Ups | Semifinalists | Quarter Finalists | Best Result Ever | Best Ever Ranked Speaker |
| Spain | 3 | 14 | 10 | 21 | 1st | 1st |
| Colombia | 3 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 1st | 1st |
| Chile | 2 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 1st | 1st |
| Venezuela | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1st | 1st |
| Mexico | 0 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 2nd | 2nd |
| Peru | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2nd | 10th |
| United States | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5th | 35th |
| Hong Kong* | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5th | None |
| Panama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9th | 91st |
| Dominican Republic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17th | 61st |
| Guatemala | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17th | 95th |
| Netherlands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17th | None |
| Argentina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28th | 26th |
| Costa Rica | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39th | 67th |
| El Salvador | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43rd | 47th |
| Ecuador | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44th | 63rd |
| France | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78th | None |
| United Arab Emirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78th | None |
| Russia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 82nd | 150th |
| Germany | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105th | 64th |
| England | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105th | None |
| Sweden | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 117th | 221st |
| France | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | None | 36th |
| South Korea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | None | 89th |
| United States Virgin Islands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | None | 100th |
| Romania | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | None | 125th |
| Curaçao | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | None | 211th |
| Austria | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | None | 218th |
| India | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | None | 218th |
* The students did not have ties to an institution from Hong Kong.

### Judges' Cup / Nations Cup

| Year | Hosts | Champions | Runner-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
| 2020/2021 (Copa Máster) | Spain Universidad Complutense de Madrid | Colombia Panama Diego Duarte, Giza Pavone, Juanita Hincapie | Peru & Brazil Jorge Bullon, Giovanni Begossi, Adriana Barrantes | Peru & Chile Sebastián Ezeta, Fabián Yaksic, Fernanda Crousillat  Mexico & Colombia Erika Silva, Valeria Hernandez y Daniel Espinosa | No Quarters Break |
| 2019 (Copa Máster) | Peru Universidad ESAN Lima | Spain Jorge Álvarez Palomino, Víctor Corpa Rubio & Iñigo Vallejo | Spain | Spain Mixed Team  Mexico Spain Chile | No Quarters Break |
| 2018 (Copa de Naciones) | Chile Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso Chile | Mexico Valeria Hernández, Mariana Morales, David Alatorre López | Spain Gonzalo Herreros, Aida González, Francisco Valiente | North America ( United States & Mexico) Carlos Ortega, Roberto Romeu, Oliver Leung  Colombia | No Quarters Break |
| 2017 (Copa de Jueces) | Guatemala Universidad Francisco Marroquín Guatemala | Colombia Londoño, Bermúdez, Gutiérrez | Colombia Ecuador López, Carvajal, Duarte | Colombia & Mexico Luisa Salazar, Salma Infante Osorio, David Alatorre López  Peru Deza, Ruiz, Lozano | Mexico  Spain  Colombia |
| 2016 (Copa de Jueces) | Spain Universidad de Córdoba Córdoba | Spain Critina Guerrero, Jorge Whyte, de la Virgen, Alberto Buscató | Mexico Nicholas Ferezin, Alfredo Díaz Barriga, David Alatorre López  Chile Nicole Hansen | Spain  Spain | Spain Mixed Team Mixed Team Mixed Team |
| 2015 (Copa de Naciones) | Colombia Universidad del Rosario Bogotá | Spain | Chile | Colombia  Peru | Mexico  Panama |
| 2014 (Copa de Naciones) | Mexico Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México Atizapán de Zaragoza | Peru | Chile | Colombia Central America | Mexico Mixed Team |

### Judges' Cup Speakers

| Year | Hosts | Best Speaker | Runner-up | Third |
| 2020 | Spain Universidad Complutense de Madrid | Colombia Juanita Hincapié | | |
| 2019 | Peru Universidad ESAN Lima | Peru Diego Cabrera | None awarded | None awarded |
| 2018 | Chile Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso Chile | Mexico Carlos Ortega | Spain Francisco Valiente | Mexico Mariana Morales |
| 2017 | Guatemala Universidad Francisco Marroquín Guatemala | Colombia Juan Martín Londoño | Peru Ernesto Deza  Mexico David Alatorre López | None |

### Spanish As A Second Language

| Year | Hosts | Champions | Runners-up |
| 2019 | Peru Universidad ESAN Lima | United States Cornell University Luz Dybner & Sara Stober | United States Colgate University |
| 2018 | Chile Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso Chile | United States Cornell University Brittany Garcia & Estefanía Palacios | United States Cornell University University of La Verne University of North Georgia |
| 2017 | Guatemala Universidad Francisco Marroquín Guatemala | United States University of Denver Selene Figueroa & Quinn Seremet |
| 2016 | Spain Universidad de Córdoba Córdoba | Germany TU Munich  England Warwick Reinhold Koch &  Austria Katrin Fallmann | United States University of Denver  Russia HSE  Netherlands Wageningen University |
| 2015 | Colombia Universidad del Rosario Bogotá | Netherlands Maastricht University  Germany Felix Plassman & Alexander Wisse | United States Colgate University (x2)  Russia HSE |
| 2014 | Mexico Tec de Monterrey Campus Estado de México Atizapán de Zaragoza | United States Willamette University  Mexico Shamir Cervantes &  United States Andrés Oswill | United States Colgate University (x3) |