Malaspina and La Taberna Andaluza win the jury and public awards at the 15th Tapas and Pinchos Competition

Malaspina and La Taberna Andaluza restaurants have won both the jury and public awards at the 15th Benidorm Tapas and Pinchos Competition, the third event of the Benidorm Gastronomic Festival 2025, which took place from June 20th to 29th in our city. The decision was announced today at an event held at the El Torrejó Municipal Centre, attended by Mayor Toni Pérez, members of the municipal council, the president of Abreca, Javier del Castillo, the patron of Benidorm Gastronomic, Licinio García, and representatives of numerous business associations and participating restaurants.

Both the president of Abreca and the mayor of Benidorm emphasised that this year's Tapas and Pinchos Competition "broke all records set to date," both in terms of the number of participating establishments and the number of visitors and diners. Thus, the 23 bars and restaurants that presented their gastronomic offerings during the competition served more than 9,000 tapas and pinchos over these ten days, which, according to sources at Abreca, represents "a great success that encourages us to continue supporting this type of event."

Regarding the awards, the technical jury, made up of professionals from the world of catering and gastronomy, determined that the best proposal was "Ali-Baba" from the Malaspina restaurant. The jury's second prize went to the "Taco Japo-Valenciano" presented by La Fava, while third place went to the "Festín de Cecina" from Chiringuito Beach.

Meanwhile, the diners who sampled the tapas and pinchos in the competition over ten days voted for La Taberna Andaluza's "La cabra tira al monte" (The Goat's Throw to the Mountain). The second prize went to the DNI Ibéricos bar with its ‘Filo Délice’, and the third prize went to the ‘Bluefin tuna on grilled bacon with wasabi’ pintxo from El Mesón.

After the awards ceremony, the Mayor of Benidorm noted that the Tapas and Pinchos Competition, which was once the seed of Benidorm Gastronomic, is a "fully established" event and "a good example of the enormous work" carried out by the city's restaurateurs, "work that, together with the human resources of the restaurant, hospitality, and leisure sectors, is the best letter of introduction for Benidorm."

Toni Pérez emphasised that "the city, the destination, is experiencing a very strong period of activity" at the start of the high season, and referred to the growth of the tourism and hospitality industries. In this regard, he noted that in the last published unemployment rate, for the month of May, Benidorm registered a 9.27% ​​unemployment rate, making it "the city in the Valencian Community with more than 20,000 inhabitants with the lowest unemployment rate."

"There is a very solid industry here that has a "Great strength," the mayor insisted to the restaurateurs, before thanking them "on behalf of all the people in Benidorm who have an opportunity and the best social policy there can be, which is to create jobs and generate wealth as you do every day."

For his part, and as the mayor did, the president of Abreca congratulated the winning establishments, thanked everyone for their participation, and highlighted the sales volume of the tapas and pinchos entered into the competition. Del Castillo assured that "we will continue working and promoting our Gastronomic Benidorm, which is becoming more recognised nationally each year," while also hoping that "next year we will have more participating restaurants."

During the event, a raffle was held for two dinners for two people among the public who voted for their favourite creations throughout the competition. Abreca will contact the two winners to inform them of their prizes.

The 15th Tapas and Pinchos Competition was the third event of 'Benidorm Gastronomic 2025', following the '13th Spoon Days' and the '5th Tuna Days'. The program will continue in September, from the 19th to the 28th, when the various offerings of the '4th Cocktail Competition' can be sampled, while from October 17th to the 26th, rice dishes will take centre stage with the '14th Rice Days of the Land'.

The 23 participating establishments were: Baldó, Cervecería L'Abadia, Chiringuito Beach, DNI Ibéricos, El Bodegón Aurrerá, Elk Mesón, Esturión, Freiduría Los Peces, La Brasería Aurrerá, La Cava Aragonesa, La Fava, La Juana, La Pinta, La Pinta Beach, La Tabernita del Sur, La Tapería, Malaspina, Marisquería El Puerto, and Molta Pasta, Pinocchio Playa, Pintxos Aurrerá, Rock'n'Ribs, and Taberna Andaluza.