The Prefect promotes Manabi as Global Gastronomic Region 2026
In the scheme of events of Catalonia as Global Gastronomic Region 2025, Manabi’s Prefect, Leonardo Orlando, visited Barcelona with the objective of already promoting the celebration of the Global Gastronomic Region 2026 in the Ecuadorian province. The agenda included meetings with international representatives, the media and international organisations, among which ORU Fogar, an organisation that works towards the visibility of projects, such as the Manabi desire of becoming a gastronomic referent.
The Prefect met representatives from the initiative Catalonia Global Gastronomic Region 2025, where he shared experiences on the role of gastronomy in territorial development, cultural identity and sustainable tourism. In his declarations, he highlighted that Manabi’s gastronomy represents a synthesis of family labour, ancestral tradition and a compromise with sustainability and social inclusion.
In an interview with CUINA, the leading magazine on catalan cuisine, the Prefect Orlando explained that his regional government’s support towards gastronomy is not a desire of being on trend, but a compromise with local producers, specially farmers, with KM 0 products and a favourable activity for the territory.
Following this line, in the meeting between the Prefect Orlando and the Secretary General of ORU Fogar, Carles Llorens, the possibility of organising in Manabi the next Summit on Zero Hunger, centred on Food Security and Sovereignty, was analysed. This would be the sixth edition of the encounter, and it would be held after the events of the Gastronomical Year of Manabi. What was in the end agreed was a higher implication of the provincial government in ORU Fogar’s Working Group on Food Sovereignty.
Beyond the events linked to cuisine, the Prefect’s visit allowed for more meetings. One of the most significant moments of the agenda was the encounter on the FC Barcelona Foundation,, where the Prefect and the Chief Executive, Marta Segú, looked into the project “Entrenando Valores”, put forward by the Prefecture of Manabi with the support of ORU Fogar. This program, which uses sports as a tool for education and social cohesion, had previously received the support of the Foundation Barça, with the donation of a thousand official t-shirts to strengthen educational and sportive activities directed towards children and teenagers in the province.
The Prefect Leonardo Orlando highlighted that this gesture symbolises the link between culture, sports and solidarity, and he illustrates the complete vision of how Manabi expects to be perceived before the World: a region that not only celebrates its gastronomical richness, but that also promotes human and community values.
