Enigma's Triumph Fails to Save a Michelin Gala Without New Three-Star Restaurants

Rumours had innocently circulated that Michelin would break a record by awarding three restaurants a third star in one go. Nothing could be further from the truth. This time, the guide decided to leave the top prize vacant, although it maintains the three stars for the 16 restaurants that held them until now. It's not the first time this has happened: in 2015, 2016, and 2019, there were no new three-starred establishments either, but lately, Spanish cuisine had become accustomed to receiving one or two new additions each year. The predictions of pessimists warning that a historic house might be downgraded at the gala held this Tuesday in Malaga also did not come true.

Neither the Marbella-based Skina, by Marcos Granda, which has been a favourite in predictions for years; nor the luxurious Deessa, by Quique Dacosta, at the Mandarin Oriental Ritz hotel, a grand luxury project that was born with the declared intention of aiming for the top; nor the Navarrese Molino de Urdániz, by David Yárnoz, which some saw as the discreet underdog that the French firm loves so much. Nor others that were mentioned, such as Bardal, by Benito Gómez, or the Mallorcan Voro, by Álvaro Salazar, who had travelled with his team to Malaga, fuelling rumours that he might surprise. Nor the eternal aspirants Ricard Camarena, Mugaritz, Coque, or Miramar. All left empty-handed in an exhausting gala that lasted more than two and a half hours and ended in an anticlimax.

The two-star chapter did bring, at least, juicy news. The rise of Albert Adrià with Enigma was already a clamour last year: it arrives late, but it arrives, and brought the audience to its feet. Adrià used irony, saying he had just woken up from a nap and didn't expect it. Ramón Freixa regains the two stars he had at the Único hotel in the new Atelier. Paulo Airaudo also has reasons to celebrate: although the third for Amelia eludes him —perhaps next year, when he moves to the María Cristina hotel—, he achieves the second at the Barcelonian Casa Fuster, with Rafa de Bedoya as head chef. The list of new two-starred establishments is completed with La Boscana, by Joel Castañé, in Bellvís (Lleida), and Mont Bar, by Francisco José Agudo, in Barcelona.

Among the first stars, 25 references. In Madrid, Éter, by the Tofé brothers, and Emi, by young Rubén Hernández, gain their first; and in Barcelona, Kamikaze and the Japanese Scapar. But the bulk of the novelties is in rural settings or small cities, where "simpler establishments, run by couples, offering closeness and warmth" predominate, reads the Michelin statement, which seems to finally open up to recognising other forms of culinary excellence. Projects connected with memory, local identity, and the rural landscape, such as the Biscayan Bakea and La Revelia; the Manchegan Ancestral; Miguel González, in Ourense; or Barahonda, in Yecla, also nominated a few days ago for the Revelation Chef award at Madrid Fusion.

It is becoming a tradition for the host community to leave the gala happy, and this time was no exception: Andalusia has many reasons to celebrate. Five first stars for the Malaga-based Palodú; the Cadiz-based Mare; the Cordoban Recomiendo; the Sevillian Ochando, and the Granadan Faralá. More news: in Bilbao, Julen Bergantiños achieves the first for Islares, while Iñigo Lavado revalidates the one he held in his new San Sebastian project, Itzuli. Nacho Solana adds a new star at Pico Velasco to the one he has at his family home.

The green star, a distinction that had been questioned in recent weeks, adds five new ones, four of them Basque: Ama, in Tolosa; Bakea, in Mungia; Garena, in Dima; and Hika, in Villabona, in addition to the Mallorcan Terrae. Coincidence? Rather, "a particular way of defending the territory is recognised," said Javier Rivero upon receiving the award. Apart from the stars, the 2026 edition adds 29 new entries in the Bib Gourmand category —up to 204 throughout Spain—, which will be delivered in a special ceremony during Madrid Fusion, and 128 new entries in the Recommended category, up to a total of 784.

The gala also served to award a series of personal prizes. The award for best service in the dining room went to Abel Valverde, from Madrid's Desde 1911, and the best sommelier award to Luis Baselgas, from Smoked Room, also in Madrid. The young talent of Juan Carlos García, from Vandelvira, was also recognised, and the Mentor award went to Quique Dacosta.