The first European Congress of Tourism and Gastronomy was launched at the Spanish Embassy in London this week by El Bulli’s chef-patron Ferran Adrià and Spain’s Secretary of State for Tourism, Joan Mesquida.
It was also revealed that Adrià has become the Spanish Tourist Board's new ambassador and the face of Spain’s new tourism advertising campaign.
The Congress, which will be supported by the Spanish government, will take place in Madrid on 24 and 25 May, and will feature presentations and demonstrations by some of Europe's top chefs including Heston Blumenthal, René Redzepi, Michel Bras and Alain Ducasse.
The event, Mesquida explained, would examine opportunities for the food and tourism industries as the importance of food tourism in Europe continues to grow.
“We’ve chosen London as the first place to announce this because the UK is Spain’s main tourism market,” he said.
Over 30 million tourists visited Spain last year and research suggests that for 6 million of them gastronomy was the key reason for going there. “The success of Spanish gastronomy is not going to fade away soon,” added Mezquida.
El Bulli plans
Speaking at the ceremony, Adrià revealed further details about his decision to turn El Bulli into a culinary foundation.
“Avant-garde cuisine has to change scenery,” he said. “It's very difficult to remain creative in a restaurant. I want El Bulli to become the most important culinary think-tank in the world.”
He added that it would be a truly international organisation. “Although it had a big influence, El Bulli was only for me. Now it will be more open. El Bulli was the seed, but now we’re making it more radical.”
When the foundation opens in 2014, it will have a team of 30, Adrià explained. Twenty members of staff will receive scholarships to work there. “I’m happy to make these changes,” he said, “because we’ll be devoting ourselves to creativity.”