The Michelin stars gala will be held in Malaga on November 25th.

On November 25th, Málaga will become the national epicenter of gastronomy. As SUR reported exclusively this Thursday, the city will host the presentation of the Michelin Guide Spain 2026, an event of international repercussion to be held at the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos de Málaga, attracting the country's top chefs.

The official presentation of the event took place this Friday at La Cónsula hospitality school in Málaga, with the highest authorities of the guide, local, provincial, and regional administrations, and all the starred chefs from the province participating.

Málaga will host the presentation of this internationally renowned guide for the first time, taking over from Murcia, where it was held last year. The selection of Málaga follows a strong push by the Andalusian Regional Government, Málaga City Council, and the Provincial Council, which together invested one million euros to make it possible (600,000, 200,000, and 200,000 euros, respectively).

The communications director of Michelin Spain and Portugal, Mónica Rius, explained that the Málaga edition will be very special because the guide celebrates the 125th anniversary of its creation and the 115th edition in Spain, making it a "reference publication for having a long-term vision and consistency in its criteria".

Regarding the choice of Málaga, the commercial and marketing director of the brand, Miguel Pereda, revealed that it is due to three basic points: "the vitality and dynamism of the gastronomy promotion activities" held in the province, primarily by the brand Sabor a Málaga; "the level and offer of the province", which is represented in the guide by 34 establishments (including nine with a Michelin star); and "the ease of access to the destination and the hospitality offer for guests".

The guide presentation will start at 7 PM - with the traditional red carpet beginning half an hour earlier - and will be attended by around 700 guests, including all the chefs in Spain with two and three Michelin stars. A gala dinner will follow, this time coordinated by Málaga chefs Marcos Granda (Skina) and Benito Gómez (Bardal), both with two stars.

Both chefs have stated that being chosen is a great honor but also a huge commitment. For the dinner, they will be surrounded by many chefs from the province because they have "the responsibility to make it the best gala in history".

The presentation of the guide will be possible in Málaga thanks to the strong support of the administrations, which have contributed most of the investment - although the guide also has various private sponsors. Despite this, the guide values that the return to the cities where the event is held is much greater. Last year alone, they point out that the Murcia edition had an economic impact of about 42 million euros from the moment of its presentation.

The first to speak was the president of the Provincial Council, Francis Salado, who valued that the presentation "will strengthen our position in these areas (tourism and gastronomy) where we are already very strong". Not only that, but it will place the province in the global spotlight. "It is an event of great repercussion with a significant economic impact," he added.

Salado has boasted of the starred chefs in the province "because they are part of the brand Málaga" and because they show a strong commitment to sustainable and local cuisine. "They contribute to the fight against climate change and depopulation in our province," he valued.

Next, the mayor of Málaga, Francisco de la Torre, considered that the celebration in Málaga is "excellent news" because the gala has a national and international impact. The mayor took the opportunity to talk about the importance of training to attract talent because "we must always have a plus in quality and excellence; and also in gastronomic quality".

De la Torre hoped that the presentation of the guide will also "stimulate to have more distinctions, more recommendations, because we receive much more than what it costs us".

The event was concluded by the Minister of Economy of the Junta de Andalucía, Carolina España, who recalled that the idea of bringing this event to the region emerged during the gala dinner of the Gastronomic Academy of Málaga, to which she also expressed her gratitude.

España considered it "an excellent achievement" that will help spread the brand Andalucía around the world. "It is another way of opening a window to the world as has happened with other cultural, musical, or sports events," such as the Grammy Awards or the Davis Cup finals.

After recalling that, according to various studies, up to 70 percent of travelers base their travel choices on the gastronomic offerings, she noted that Andalucía "is a top-level destination for gastronomy lovers worldwide" and believed that the guide will help "to properly place Andalusian cuisine, our chefs, and our products".