Helvetia Anaitasuna · History

SCDR Anaitasuna is the handball section of the Sociedad Cultural Deportiva Recreativa Anaitasuna, a multi-sport club from Pamplona, Navarre. Its men’s first team won promotion to the Liga ASOBAL in 2011 and spent fourteen consecutive seasons in Spain’s top handball division before dropping to the División de Honor Plata in 2025. Playing under the sponsored name Helvetia Anaitasuna during that period, it reached the 2016 Copa del Rey final, the Supercopa ASOBAL final of the same year and three editions of the EHF Cup. Its home ground is the Pabellón Anaitasuna, it plays in white with green trim, and supporters call it “Anaita” or “los verdes”.

Origins of the society

The society grew out of Club Deportivo Anaitasuna, formed in August 1946 through the merger of C.D. Hércules and C.A. Mosquera. On 27 September 1952 that club joined forces with the Peña Anaitasuna, and the merger created the Sociedad Cultural Deportiva Recreativa Anaitasuna, a members’ club covering several sports. The handball section was set up in 1956. In 1973 the society received the Copa Stadium in recognition of its work promoting sport. Its facilities in Pamplona cover more than 30,000 square metres and include the arena that bears the club’s name, where its teams of every age group play.

Years in the second tier

Through the 1990s the men’s team competed in Spain’s second division. Between 1991 and 1994 it finished first in Primera Nacional three seasons running, and from 1994 it settled in the División de Honor B. The 2002-03 campaign ended in sixteenth place and relegation to Primera Estatal, then the third tier. The spell there lasted three seasons: after topping the table in 2004-05 and again in 2005-06, the club regained its place in Honor B. It was sixth in 2007-08 and second in 2008-09, and in the newly named División de Honor Plata it came third in 2009-10. A fourth-place finish in 2010-11 brought promotion to the Liga ASOBAL.

Fourteen seasons in the Liga ASOBAL

The first top-flight season, 2011-12, ended in twelfth place. The team was seventh in each of the next two campaigns and finished fourth in 2014-15. It then placed eighth in 2015-16, fifth in 2016-17 and sixth in 2017-18, a season of 16 wins, 4 draws and 10 defeats. Players who passed through the squad in those years included goalkeeper Sergey Hernández, at the club from 2013 to 2018, Argentine pivot Matías Schulz, who played in Pamplona in 2008-09 and from 2011 to 2013, and Antonio Bazán, who arrived in 2013. Survival became a struggle in the final campaign: in 2024-25 the team finished fifteenth with 8 wins, 3 draws and 19 defeats and was relegated in June 2025.

The 2016 cup final

The 2016 Copa del Rey was decided at a four-team final tournament staged at the Pabellón Anaitasuna itself on 7 and 8 May. The Navarre side had reached it by beating Frigoríficos del Morrazo in the quarter-finals: a 35-24 home win outweighed a 23-27 defeat in the return leg for a 58-51 aggregate. In the semi-final it beat Naturhouse La Rioja 31-28 to reach its first Copa del Rey final, which it lost 30-33 to FC Barcelona Lassa. Finishing as runner-up earned a place in the September 2016 Supercopa ASOBAL, also held in Pamplona, where Barcelona won again, 38-30, to claim a fifth consecutive Supercopa.

European campaigns

Anaitasuna played in the EHF Cup for three straight seasons. In 2015-16 it went out in the group stage. Its best European run came in 2016-17: it knocked out Hungary’s Csurgói KK 53-51 on aggregate in the third round, finished second in Group D with wins over MT Melsungen, Benfica and Riihimäki Cocks, and reached the quarter-finals, where SC Magdeburg beat it 69-59 over two legs. In 2017-18 it was drawn with Füchse Berlin, who won 30-28 in Pamplona on 24 February 2018, and finished third in the group without advancing.

Back in the second tier

After relegation the team spent the 2025-26 season in the División de Honor Plata. It finished the regular season in fifth place with 39 points from 30 games, qualifying for the promotion tournament to the Liga ASOBAL. In May 2026 it lost the first semi-final of that tournament 28-24 to Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto.