The Diplomat in Spain

The participants at the presentation of Expofooding, yesterday, in Madrid./ Photo: A.R. 

Alberto Rubio. 26/01/2016 

“It is an excellent idea that gastronomy acts as a bridge between peoples”, said the President of the Spanish Royal Academy of Gastronomy, Rafael Anson, yesterday during the presentation of Expofooding, the I International Gastronomy Conference, being held in Madrid from 1 to 5 May 2016. 

More than fifty embassies and consulates have backed the project up to now, which was presented to the public yesterday in the headquarters of the  World Tourism Organisation (WTO) in Madrid. Expofooding is endeavouring to be “a meeting space and time that explores and unifies international relations”, as one of its organisers, the President of the World Gastronomy Institute  José Manuel Iglesias explained at the presentation.

Supporting Expofooding, with no cost to the diplomatic missions, gives them the right to form part of the Diplomatic Committee as well as to be represented in the the technical and academic activities which are organised during the event and which will be attended by experts from all over the world.

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“It is much more than a  Fair, it is an opportunity  to combine culture, food and development”

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Expofooding, which in addition to support by the WTO is also backed by the City Council and the Comunidad de Madrid, wants to use gastronomy as “a social, cultural, commercial, tourist and economic asset” as it pointed out in its presentation, in order to be” a nexus between peoples” and a “driving force of social development and transformation”.

This is why, said the Director of the UNESCO Gastronomy Chair, Xavier F. Medina, “Expofooding is much more than a Fair, it is an opportunity to combine culture, food and development”.

Madrid will be the permanent headquarters of Expofooding, which will be held annually. The Coordinator-General of the Madrid City Council, Luis Cueto, stressed his satisfaction with this new initiative which he hopes will act to consolidate the growth of tourism in Madrid.