Tourism

Barcelona is to host the awards ceremony for the Michelin stars given to restaurants in Spain, in a gala to be held on 28 November. The city was chosen for respecting the tradition of local produce in cosmopolitan and fusion cuisine which excels for its creativity and constant innovation. This is the first time the awards do not include establishments in Portugal, which will get their own event in the first quarter of 2024.

This event has a big impact for the promotion of restaurants and gastronomy and is being held at the Barcelona International Convention Centre, although other places in the city will be used for the other ceremonies ahead of the gala. These include the presentation of chefs who will be cooking the gala supper, headed by Jordi Cruz, the Torres brothers and Paolo Casagrande.

Barcelona is the city which has the most Michelin stars, with 25 in all, and 70 city restaurants appear with different distinctions in the Michelin Guide to Spain and Portugal 2023. These include three 3-star restaurants, five with 2 stars, sixteen with 1 star, one with a Green Star, eight with the Bib Gourmand distinction and 38 recommended establishments.

Gastronomy is one of the priorities for city tourism, along with shopping and cultural activities. Over 90% of tourists (92.4% in 2021) go to restaurants to taste local cuisine, spending 50% of their money on gastronomy. In addition, gastronomy visitors spend 24% more on average than holiday visitors.