From 3 to 6 June 2026, a group of 20 people from the Vereniging van Exclusieve Sportcentra (VES) visited Madrid on a work trip. DBC was brought in to provide practical insight into Madrid’s sports and business environment.

The aim of the visit was to gain inspiration and to visit as many projects as possible in the sports, fitness and wellbeing sectors. As DBC, in cooperation with Vrouwenzaken Madrid, we helped identify possible visits and activities.

The group, led by Marleen van der Put, found the four-day visit highly valuable, with visits to ten fitness centres, a visit to the Dutch Embassy, city walks and a bike tour, and of course the enjoyment of excellent Madrid gastronomy.

More specifically, BDC and Vrouwenzaken members Monique Jansen and Silke van Loenen supported the group on Friday 5 June with a visit to Club Las Encinas, followed by a lovely lunch at Restaurant el Lago de Boadilla. This visit was especially valuable because Las Encinas is a traditional multi-sports club, and therefore a strong complement to all the innovative initiatives they had seen. It showed that a traditional club can also survive amid all the innovation and low-cost alternatives.

At the end of lunch, Monique delivered a masterclass on “CX Inside-Out in Fitness”, covering the factors of leadership — culture, connection, relevance and building trust — as well as data and technology, and emotions.

All in all, it was a fantastic experience for everyone involved. At DBC, we are happy to support companies that not only want to do business in Spain, but also want to use Madrid as a source of inspiration.