Madrid Culinary Campus, a strategic commitment to the future of gastronomy

Comillas hosted the event "Madrid, capital of sustainable gastronomy", with Ferrán Adrià

A man standing in front of a presentation screen that displays 'Pregunta Rafael Vara' at a conference.

6 June 2024

Madrid Culinary Campus (MACC) showcased the potential of sustainable gastronomy in Madrid at Comillas Pontifical University in an event organised by Comillas, the Madrid City Council and Vocento. The conference "Madrid, capital of sustainable gastronomy" dissected the state of the restaurant industry in the capital and the keys that are making it one of the main gastronomic nodes in the world. "The Michelin Guide lists 169 recommended restaurants in Madrid, but there are many more in the capital," said Ferran Adrià, who assured that the city competes gastronomically with places such as Singapore, Copenhagen and Lima. The chef, creator of ElBulli, gave some hints of what should be done in Madrid to boost its gastronomic visibility. Among his suggestions were to take into account the type of tourism that one wishes to attract to Madrid, the generation of powerful and unique cultural projects related to cuisine, and education.

In this regard, Adrià - a pioneer in the creation of the first cooking and science course at Harvard University - confessed to being "excited about the Madrid Culinary Campus project at Comillas Pontifical University, which is very exciting", and praised the Society of Jesus for its courage in launching a project of these characteristics and "for welcoming me among its lecturers and students".

For his part, the Rector of Comillas, Enrique Sanz, SJ, thanked the chef for the donation of 10,500 books for the permanent exhibition that will be housed in the new MACC building in the Chamartín district of Madrid - "the construction is designed as an exhibition, the classrooms, the rooms, the entire building", Adrià assured - and underlined the importance of the education provided at MACC, with a degree, a dual degree and two postgraduate courses. For Sanz, "Comillas contributes to making Madrid the capital of sustainable gastronomy, with international programmes, which is very important, as it is for the gastronomic impulse of the capital". "We are aligned with the future of the planet, of our society and of young people," said the Rector.

"MACC is a commitment to Madrid," said Almudena Maíllo, head of the Delegate Area of Tourism, who dissected the measures that the Madrid City Council is putting in place to promote. "We have the largest number of municipal markets in Europe," she said, adding that "gastronomy is identity, but it is also an economy; it is a sector that is irreplaceable socially and economically", and listed some of the initiatives that have been launched, such as the Madrid Food Innovation Hub, which is accelerating more than 100 start-ups.

The day was rounded off with a round table with the participation of Benjamín Lana, director of Vocento's Gastronomy Division; José Carlos Capel, food critic and president of Madrid Fusión; Concha Díaz de Villegas, Director General of Commerce, Catering and Consumer Affairs of Madrid City Council, and Luis Suárez de Lezo, president of the Royal Academy of Gastronomy.

For Capel, Madrid Fusión means "doing something for the city and highlighting what was and is happening with Spanish cuisine". "There is no similar event in the world", added Lana, who explained that it is beneficial for the sector, the city and young people starting out.

For his part, Suárez de Lezo said that the gastronomic event "is a world reference" and "the perfect meeting point". The diversity of Madrid's cuisine was highlighted by Díaz de Villegas. "It is very important that we create gastronomy to attract tourists, who bring a lot of value to the city, but it is also very important that we have very good gastronomy in the different neighbourhoods" and that it is not only concentrated in the city centre.

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