At the gala, which, as in previous years, will be held in person – at the El Greco Congress Palace – and online, the restaurants with one, two and three Michelin stars from the Iberian guide will be announced for the coming year.

“Castile-La Mancha was the autonomous community chosen for its gastronomic personality, influenced by its multicultural culinary history and by its active involvement in the promotion and dynamisation of the region's gastronomy”, says the Michelin Guide Spain and Portugal, in a statement.

The company highlights that the city of Toledo, a World Heritage Site since 1986, “has an unparalleled history and is considered a true melting pot of cultures, with a large population of Christians, Jews and Muslims living together in peace for centuries”.

Typical dishes

The gastronomy of Castile-La Mancha will be highlighted, namely through the typical game dishes, cheeses from La Mancha, saffron, honey from La Alcarria, garlic - it is the main garlic producing region in the European Union -, and marzipan.

The event's gastronomic coordinators will be chefs Fran Martínez (Maralba restaurant, in Almansa) and Ivan Cerdeño (Iván Cerdeño restaurant, in Toledo), both with two Michelin stars, while seven one-star restaurant chefs from the region will also be offering the their proposals during the dinner that follows the gala.

Green stars

In the next edition, the guide will continue to focus on the theme of sustainability, by awarding green stars to restaurants that are particularly committed to sustainable gastronomy and the future of the planet.

Toledo thus succeeds Valencia as the stage for the announcement of the Iberian stars, whose gala has already passed through cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Marbella, Girona or Santiago de Compostela and, in Portugal, Lisbon (2018).

In this year’s edition, Portugal has seven restaurants with two stars (‘excellent cuisine, worth the detour’) and 26 with a Michelin star (‘great cuisine, worth the stop’). The country does not have any restaurant with the maximum rating of three stars ('exceptional cuisine, justifies the trip').