Santa Cruz de Tenerife conquers the gastronomic capital of 2027

Santa Cruz de Tenerife will have throughout 2027 a particularly large table. The capital of Tenerife has been chosen Spanish Capital of Gastronomy 2027, a recognition that will allow the kitchen to be positioned for twelve months, the product and the Canarian professionals in one of the main gastronomic showcases in the country.

The city won an edition in which three candidates participated and will take over from Jerez de la Frontera. The election has been made by a jury in which representatives of organizations linked to the hospitality industry participate., tourism and gastronomy, in addition to organizations such as the Secretary of State for Tourism or the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing and food.

But the capital has not been considered solely as a succession of gastronomic events.. The project presented by Santa Cruz aims to use recognition as a tool for tourism and economic promotion, involving restaurants, markets, producers, hotels, shops, training centers and companies linked to the sector.

A recipe book to tell about a city

One of the elements that contributed the most uniqueness to the candidacy was precisely its format.. Under the motto “Santa Cruz de Tenerife, “crossing of flavors”, The project was articulated as a large city recipe book.

The folder, titled Recipes to cook the Spanish Capital of Gastronomy 2027, transferred the usual planning of a candidacy to a culinary language. Strategy, identity, pantry, programming, communication or legacy were presented as if they were part of the ingredients and steps of a recipe.

The planned programming will extend during the twelve months of 2027 and it must involve areas that go far beyond restaurants. Markets, local product, hotels, training, trade, culture and public space will be part of an agenda whose execution will be coordinated through a specific Technical Office dependent on the Santa Cruz Development Society.

A capital with a Canarian vocation

There is probably one of the most interesting readings of the recognition. Although the title falls to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, The project presented to the jury expressly proposes capital status as a platform to project the gastronomy of the whole of the Canary Islands.

The intention is to give visibility not only to the city's restaurants, but also to the products of the Islands, their wines, the markets, the quality brands and professionals that make up the gastronomic sector of the Archipelago. For this, The City Council plans to work together with the Cabildo of Tenerife and the Government of the Canary Islands.

The candidacy was also supported by more than a hundred public entities, business, tourist, gastronomic, commercial, training and cultural, in addition to the institutional support of the City Council, the Tenerife Cabildo and the regional Executive.

Santa Cruz also has an obvious advantage in turning recognition into a showcase.. According to data provided by the City Council, The city annually receives more than 3,4 millions of visitors among tourists, hikers and cruisers, a public circulation that now aims to connect in a more intense way with its culinary offer.

The designation comes after several years of municipal work to reinforce gastronomy as an element of tourism promotion, with initiatives such as the Degusta Santa Cruz Product Club.

More than a title

The challenge will start now. Being the Spanish Capital of Gastronomy provides notoriety, but the true result will be measured in the ability to transform that year of activities into something that remains after 2027.

Increase the presence of the Canarian product on the tables, that the markets gain prominence, that professionals find new opportunities and that gastronomy is consolidated as another reason to travel to the Islands.

Santa Cruz will have twelve months to try. Y, if the project maintains the vocation with which it was presented, The Canary Islands will also have twelve months to sit at that table.