Puerto de la Cruz Hosts Inaugural Culinary Hotel Awards
This Tuesday, Puerto de la Cruz became the epicenter of Canarian haute cuisine with the celebration of the first-ever Culinary Hotel Awards 2025. This new initiative, driven by Prensa Ibérica, was created to recognize the gastronomic excellence of hotels across the Archipelago.
Celebrating a Culinary Phenomenon
During the gala, the president of the media group, Javier Moll, emphasized that these awards “were born from the desire to promote and recognize the high-quality cuisine served in the best hotels of the Canary Islands.” He stated that the competition is a result of the commitment by the group’s media outlets—with El Día and La Provincia as leading voices in the Canaries—to the Archipelago’s culinary tradition and food culture, which is being creatively reinterpreted by today’s talented chefs.
Gastronomy at the Heart of Culture and Tourism
Moll highlighted that cuisine is now a sociological phenomenon and that interest in gastronomy has grown extraordinarily in Spain in recent decades. “Eating well has settled at the center of our social and cultural lives,” he noted, while also championing the role of restaurants as spaces for pleasure, knowledge, innovation, and creativity.
The president of Prensa Ibérica further stressed that Canarian gastronomy has become a mirror of its identity and that the Archipelago’s hotels are at the “forefront,” supporting much of the culinary offering that consolidates the Islands as a top-tier tourist destination. “Often, the first experience for someone visiting the Canary Islands begins at the table with a tasty bite,” Moll recalled. He pointed out that the islands’ cuisine is the result of a crossroad of cultures from Latin America, Africa, Spain, and Europe, capable of generating a unique fusion.
The Media’s Role in Food Culture
In his speech, Javier Moll also sought to highlight the journalistic work surrounding gastronomy, citing projects that the newspapers El Día and La Provincia develop in this field. He mentioned the supplement “Reina el Sabor,” the weekly gastronomic podcast, and the participation of journalist José Luis Reina in the Televisión Canaria program “Ponte al Día,” produced by Videre. “The media plays an essential role in the dissemination of gastronomic culture,” he affirmed, recognizing the effort of the editorial teams to bring the best culinary information to their readers.
More Than Just an Awards Ceremony
Moll concluded his speech with a message of pride for the sector: “Today we celebrate much more than an awards ceremony; we celebrate the pride of Islands that have known how to turn their hotels into temples of flavor.” The president congratulated all the nominees for their daily work, noting that “recovering traditional recipes, playing with new textures, and bringing to life dishes that tell stories” is the true value of Canarian cuisine. “Being here is already a success,” he stated, before congratulating the winners of this first edition in advance.
