Santa Cruz de Tenerife has officially been chosen as the Spanish Capital of Gastronomy for 2027, giving the island's capital a major opportunity to showcase Canarian cuisine to visitors from across Spain and abroad.
The decision was announced yesterday (Tuesday) after Santa Cruz was selected from three Spanish cities competing for the annual title.
The jury unanimously backed the Tenerife capital, highlighting the variety, innovation and creativity of the programme it has developed for next year.
Santa Cruz presented its candidacy under the slogan “Santa Cruz de Tenerife, cruce de sabores”, or “a crossroads of flavours”, with a proposal designed around the concept of a traditional recipe book.
Instead of presenting its tourism and gastronomic strategy as a conventional technical document, the city structured the plans as recipes and the different stages of a menu.
The result is intended to guide visitors through Santa Cruz's food, culture and identity during the four quarters of 2027.
A programme of activities will take place throughout the 12 months of next year, involving restaurants, traditional markets, local producers, hotels, shops, training centres, cultural organisations and tourism businesses.
The aim is not simply to promote individual restaurants, but to use gastronomy as part of the city's wider tourism identity.
That could have significant implications for tourism in Tenerife.
Santa Cruz already receives more than 3.4 million visitors a year, according to the City Council, when tourists, day visitors and cruise passengers are combined.
City officials now want food and local produce to become a bigger part of the experience those visitors take away from the capital.
Mayor José Manuel Bermúdez said the recognition provides an opportunity to put Santa Cruz's cuisine in the spotlight, reflecting the city's history, open character and centuries of cultural influences.
The project also aims to give greater visibility to Canarian produce and the people behind the city's food sector, from chefs and restaurant staff to farmers, markets, hotels and training establishments.
Santa Cruz City Council will work alongside the Tenerife Cabildo and Canary Islands Government during the year, linking tourism promotion with restaurants, local produce, commerce, training, markets and events.
The official organisation behind the award said the jury voted unanimously for Santa Cruz, noting that after 15 years of recognising cities across mainland Spain, it was time for Spain's Atlantic islands to take centre stage.
Santa Cruz will succeed Jerez de la Frontera, which holds the title during 2026.
For tourists staying in Tenerife's main holiday resorts, the designation could also provide another reason to head north and spend a day in the capital.
And with an entire year of events planned, Santa Cruz intends to prove that its appeal to visitors extends considerably further than shopping, cruise ships and its annual Carnival.
