The restaurant Burguettos, hailing from Mexico, has won the first prize at the 65th International Valencian Paella Contest in Sueca, an event with a long tradition and recognized as the oldest in Spain. Chef José Carlos Ruiz Zamora and his assistant, Lionel Caldelas, received the award, which includes a prize of 2,500 euros, a commemorative parchment, and a silver medallion exclusively for the winners. The award was presented by the mayor of Sueca, Julián Sáez.
The winners expressed their deep "emotion and gratitude" upon hearing the jury's decision. This year, the panel of experts included prominent figures from the gastronomic world, such as Tomás Angulo Salas (winner of the previous edition), Yuki Kawaguchi (director of the International Semifinal in Japan), Mohamed Houd Chaibani (representative of the Sueca and Beaches Hospitality Guild), Jesús Barrachina Arnal (commercial director of La Alquería Kukala), Jorge Rodríguez Esteve (founder and CEO of Grupo Esatur), Pedro Pacheco Jorge (official distributor of Valencia D.O. Rice in the Canary Islands), and José Carlos Capel Rivas (gastronomic critic and president of Madrid Fusión).
For the second consecutive year, the first-prize winners also received the silver medallion, a piece designed specifically to recognize the world's best paella makers. This year, the medallion was presented by Tomás Angulo, the previous edition's winner, who had kept it safe throughout the year.
The contest, affiliated with the gastronomic tourism brand L'Exquisit Mediterrani and supported by València Turisme, was a resounding success in terms of participation, public attendance, and media presence. The Estación promenade was packed during the cooking of the 40 participating paellas, all prepared strictly following the official recipe under the same conditions and with the same ingredients.
To ensure the smooth running of the event, the paellas were presented in different shifts, allowing the jury to taste them freshly cooked, a measure that was successfully implemented in the previous edition.
