Zaragoza will promote itself as the World Capital of Garnacha at Fitur 2025, the International Tourism Fair in Madrid, where it will unveil the agenda of activities and events prepared for this year around wine culture, taking advantage of the region’s winemaking heritage and tradition.
The Aragonese capital will hold its main event on January 23, with the presence of the Mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca, and the Minister of Culture, Education and Tourism, Sara Fernández, who will share presentations and work sessions with travel agencies, wine sector professionals and the media in a day full of activities.
The capital of Aragon will have its own stand within the Aragon space, in Hall 7, with which it will be present at the leading fair for the tourism sector, which is being held from 22 to 26 January at Ifema Madrid with 9,500 participating companies from 156 countries and 884 exhibitors, according to the organisation.
One of the “most ambitious and strategic” tourism projects designed by the City Council to attract tourists will be presented there. It identifies the city with the Garnacha and seeks to take advantage of all the winemaking knowledge of the region. For 2025, there are wine tourism getaways planned, a vineyard in the city, a scientific congress and a Garnacha festival open to the public, among other proposals.
The province of Zaragoza has 18,000 hectares dedicated to the cultivation of vines, with three Denominations of Origin (DO), Calatayud, Campo de Borja and Cariñena, which produce the best Grenache wines, an internationally recognised variety known as the grape of Aragon.
DAY DEDICATED TO ZARAGOZA
Following the official presentation in Madrid in autumn and Zaragoza last January, the City Council is now bringing its tourist offer to Fitur on 23 January. Specifically, two presentations have been scheduled. At 11.30 am, the professional workshop ‘Zaragoza, the next destination and Picnic in Zaragoza, world capital of Garnacha’ will be held , aimed at journalists, influencers, travel experts and specialised agencies, among others. In this activity, they will be able to enjoy an experience that combines wine tourism and urban culture, in which a picnic with tapas and Garnacha wine will be recreated.
Next, at 12.30 pm, there will be a presentation open to the public of “Zaragoza, next destination – Zaragoza, world capital of Garnacha” , in which the mayor will show the tourist attractions of the city and will detail the project, with the help of three designations of origin: Calatayud, Campo de Borja and Cariñena.
The world of wine will thus join the city’s major tourist attractions, such as its artistic heritage, with ‘the city of two cathedrals’, or the birthplace of Goya , where the most universal Aragonese painter learned to see. Now Zaragoza will also be linked to wine tourism, offering its visitors different tourist services, taking advantage of the proximity of a territory with a long winemaking tradition.
As she did at the official presentation, the mayor announced at Fitur some of the most important actions that will be developed in 2025 within the framework of a project that will complete Zaragoza’s tourist and gastronomic offering.
WINE TOURISM GETAWAYS
To bring the towns and wineries closer together, each with its own history and character, Zaragoza will offer three different wine tourism getaways starting in March, departing on Saturdays . All of them will include a gourmet meal with local products in local restaurants. In addition, Zaragoza will host, in the first week of June, the first International Garnacha Festival, an event that will bring the best of wine and gastronomy, in collaboration with the three DOs of the province, and the hospitality associations of Zaragoza and the province Horeca and Cafés and Bars.
Over the course of a week, there will be a full programme of tastings, pairings and music in a festive atmosphere open to the public. The Plaza del Pilar, passing through El Tubo, and arriving at Plaza San Francisco, will be decorated evoking the Garnacha and, among the proposals, there will be an International Garnacha Showcase and a gastronomic route.
By that date, the city of Zaragoza will also have its own private vineyard, in the Macanaz park, where 129 old Grenache vines will be planted starting in January, transplanted from the three Zaragoza DOs, with the transfer of the original land.
As a prelude, on May 5 and 6, the “most important Grenache tasting competition in the world” will be held in Cariñena and Zaragoza. Organized by the Grenaches du Monde organization, it will feature the participation of international experts who will evaluate Grenache wines from the most important international producers.
But Zaragoza will also become the epicentre of knowledge and innovation with an International Congress on Garnacha, organised by the City Council together with the Mediterranean Agricultural Institute of Zaragoza of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agricultural Studies (CIHEAM). Professionals and experts from different countries will participate to address the research and study of wine at a global level.
On the other hand, throughout the year, various promotional activities will be scheduled for the project with Turespaña, so that journalists and agencies from different countries can learn about Zaragoza as a tourist destination for wine and gastronomy.
MADRID FUSION
Following the end of Fitur 2025, it will be Madrid Fusión’s turn, where Zaragoza will promote its gastronomy at an event that celebrates its twentieth edition and will be held at Ifema on January 27, 28 and 29.
With the motto of this edition ‘Revolutionaries’. 30 years since Spain amazed the world’, the event recalls the evolution of Spanish cuisine and the reasons for that culinary revolution, marked by creative freedom.
Zaragoza is participating in this Fair within the “Saborea España” stand, which will have an exhibition area of more than 500 square meters at Ifema, where a total of 16 destinations will be represented, members of the most important Spanish gastronomic tourism brand and the first national platform with an international vocation. During the three days, more than 100 activities have been scheduled through gastronomic and oenological workshops, where different professionals will present the benefits of their destinations. In this way, the space will become the meeting point between the press, producers, chefs and institutional representatives.
On this occasion, Zaragoza will carry out various workshops, wine tastings and gastronomic events, in collaboration with the Association of Restaurants of Zaragoza and province, Horeca, the Association of Cafés and Bars, Ámbar Beers and the Denominations of Origin of Cariñena, Calatayud and Campo de Borja. These activities will be carried out by the following establishments: Basho Café, River Hall, the Embassy, Brasserie Fire, La Cava, Ambigú del Foro.
In addition, this year as a novelty, Zaragoza is expanding its participation in Madrid Fusión, with a presence at the Aragón stand, promoting the rich Aragonese gastronomy together with Huesca and Teruel. The presentations are: Zaragoza World Capital of Garnacha (Monday 27/01. 17:45-18:45 hours), Zaragoza, land of champions (Tuesday 28/01, 12-12:30 hours) and Zaragoza, the future is written with Z” (Wednesday 29/01. 12-13 hours).