The Councillor for Tourism and Sport, Francisco Javier Fernández, today congratulated the city of Huelva on its designation as the 2017 Spanish Gastronomy Capital and confirmed his department's support for this initiative which, as he said, “willbe important for attracting visitors throughout the year and promoting the image of the excellence of the destination both at a national and international level”.

Francisco Javier Fernández evaluated the designation of Huelva as a landmark by being the first seaside city to be selected, after Logroño, Burgos, Vitoria, Caceres and Toledo, and he highlighted the potential for Huelva's gastronomy which has “a wide range of top-quality ingredients based on the essential values of our region, like the contrast between the sea and the mountains.”

The counsellor reminded us that gastronomic tourism is one of the segments “which best identifies and differentiates this destination”, making it a “key factor for tourism in Andalusia”. In this regard, he pointed out that gastronomy is one of the sectors best valued by travellers, with 8.2 points out of ten, and that this type of tourism attracts about 650,000 visitors to the community each year.

The new 2017 Spanish Gastronomy Capital, for which Huelva competed with Cuenca, will initiate its programme of activities on January 1, which is when the current capital of Toledo ends its reign. This award is promoted by the Spanish Hotel and Catering Federation and the Spanish Federation of Journalists and Travel Writers.