The cuisine committed to the territory by Lucía Freitas at the Galician restaurant A Tafona; the ode to pleasure by Catalan chef Ramón Freixa at Madrid's Ramón Freixa Atelier and the Mallorcan and Andalusian fusion practiced by Álvaro Salazar at the Balearic Voro are the three new Three Suns of the Repsol Guide 2026. The gala, held for the first time at the Palau de Tarragona ---after previous days of weather warnings and some uncertainty--- was attended by the Minister of Business and Labor, Miquel Sàmper, the president of Repsol, Antonio Brufau, and a large cast of chefs from various parts of the country ---150 chefs--- including new Suns and veteran Three Suns who took to the stage in an event presented by Lorena Castell and Jorge Ponce, which counted on the complicity of the chefs themselves to elicit some laughs from the audience.
"Repsol Guide has its radar on all year for restaurants that mix intelligence and intuition and proactively seeks them out across the territory so that we can keep trying new things," summarized María Ritter, director of Repsol Guide, in her speech.
Dos Palillos, new Two Suns of the Repsol Guide
Catalonia is the autonomous community with the most Soles, and this year it is the second in harvest: 13 new Soles compared to the Community of Madrid, which obtains 14. "The contribution of Catalan gastronomy to Spanish gastronomy and to the world is undeniable," Ritter stressed.A distribution that has been generous and in which Barcelona stands out with a cast of restaurants where seafood and Asian proposals mix.
Dos Palillos, the restaurant of former elBulli chef Albert Raurich together with his wife, Japanese sommelier Tamae Imachi, has been awarded the only Two Suns in this edition in Catalan territory. "The latest revolution came out of Catalonia thanks to elBulli and Ferran Adrià and the whole school. The chefs we are seeing today were trained in the great schools," emphasized the guide's director. Raurich and Imachi's proposal is a Catalano-Asian one, with techniques (ancient and new) pushed to the limit where wagyu and caviar coexist with traditional oden and naresushi.
The rest of the eleven restaurants that debut with Two Suns are the Andalusian Vandelvira and Mesón Sabor Andaluz, the Madrid-based Smoked Room, the Aragonese Callizo, the Canarian San Hô, the Cantabrian La Bicicleta, the Madrid-based Bascoat, the Valencian Fierro, the Extremaduran Dromo and the Murcian Barahonda.
New One Repsol Sun in Barcelona, very maritime
Among the new Barcelona Suns, a maximum common denominator stands out: the sea. Three of the proposals navigate marine flavors, extracting all their potential. This is the case of Amar (Barcelona), by also ex-Bulli Rafa Zafra, who has won his first Sol with this proposal located in the El Palace hotel, which is a tribute to the best and most exuberant of the seafood cuisine of this chef of Sevillian origin. The new restaurant by the Torres brothers, Eldelmar (Barcelona) is also 100% marine, starting with its spectacular location, on the Balcó Gastronòmic del Port Olímpic, with views of both the moored yachts and the Nova Icària beach.
Also maritime is the proposal of Besta (Barcelona), a mix of ingredients from the Atlantic and the Mediterranean that results in a light, tasty, and contemporary style cuisine by chefs Manu Núñez and Carles Ramon. Outside of this marine trend, we find the Sun awarded to the restaurant Prodigi, a proposal of Catalan cuisine with an international accent by chef Jordi Tarré (formerly Celler de Can Roca and Hisop) located between Provença, Diagonal, and Girona streets.
The new Three Suns 2026 of the Repsol Guide
The three new Three Suns of this edition (the highest distinction) have been awarded to A Tafona (A Coruña), Ramón Freixa Atelier (Madrid) and Voro (Mallorca), which demonstrate the great heterogeneity of the country, where it is possible to try very diverse cuisines that defend the foundations of the place where they are located.The proposal of chef Lucía Freitas, in Santiago de Compostela, distills the flavor of the Atlantic and prides itself on its Galician soul, with the modern vision of someone who loves the origin and has built her own universe, in which producers and artisans are a fundamental part of the project. In Capdepera (Mallorca), Jaen-born chef Álvaro Salazar displays a Mediterranean mosaic filtered by his Andalusian memory in Voro, where the characteristics of each product are creatively squeezed. For his part, Ramón Freixa, after a short break closed by a change of location, has revalidated the Three Suns in Atelier, where at a bar for only 10 diners he seeks climax through an exclusive experience.
Fusion with local and shorter menus, in trend
And if we talk about trends, the Spanish gastronomy guide par excellence is skilled at being the radar for new concepts that beat in kitchens and convince on the streets. This year's list highlights projects that boast the enriching union between diverse regional cuisines, a kind of local fusion. María Ritter explains it this way: "Trends evolve every year and in this edition, the fusion between different regions of Spain replaces the more exotic influences, which have prevailed for so long in restaurants. There are also groundbreaking proposals, which coexist with more evocative ones, and conciliation is spreading in the sector."Also trending on the list, as new times dictate, are shorter and more dynamic tasting menus that can also be enjoyed on any weekday, as well as gastro bars where cooking is done in front of the diner (we already know that omakase menus are the new hit this 2026). Another good piece of news is the rationalization of staff schedules and hours in a sector that has always been characterized by endless workdays: work-life balance is materializing in restaurants that choose to close on weekends, to open only one shift (lunch or dinner), or that have four days off out of seven.
And the rest of the Repsol Suns in Catalonia?
As we pointed out, the Repsol Guide has been generous this year with Catalonia, as it has served 13 new stars in this community. In addition to the aforementioned Soles in Barcelona, the following are added: Cervus, a small establishment in Reus (Tarragona) awarded with One Sol, and the proposal of Quintaforca in Nulles (Tarragona). In Girona, the restaurant Fontané, located in Sant Julià de Ramis, has also achieved its first Sol: it is the celebrated proposal of the Roca Brothers to their mother, a simple and well-prepared local cuisine that has captivated the guide's inspectors. This is also the case of Dvisi Palamós (Girona) and the wild localist proposal of 539, Plats Forts Puigcerdà (Girona). Maràngels, in Sant Gregori (Girona), closes the selection of Girona restaurants that stand out in this year's guide. For its part, Sexto (Lleida) has also won One Sol and has been the only proposal from Lleida that has convinced the inspectors in this edition.
Andorra enters Guía Repsol this 2026 with One Sol for Ibaya, opening the door to future distinctions; and seven proposals in the Recommended guide, a category that from this edition onwards will be called Repsol Guide Restaurants. Regarding this category, with more affordable proposals (around 50 euros), the president of Repsol, Antonio Brufau, highlights that "in this edition, more than thirty young female and male chefs join the Guide with sustainable, creative and future-filled proposals. This mix of veteran and youth is one of our greatest riches."
Catalonia, autonomous community with the most Repsol Soles
Catalonia always leaves with a full basket at this type of event; no less than 113 Suns illuminate the community ---it has 9 restaurants with Three Suns, 29 with Two Suns, and 75 with One Sun---. The three Suns that Ramón Freixa has achieved this year equalize Madrid with Barcelona, positioning them as the two Spanish provinces with the most restaurants with the highest distinction —six in total---, closely followed by Girona, the second province with the most 3 Suns in the country —with three—.The 2026 edition has added 83 new awarded restaurants: the aforementioned 3 Three Suns, 11 Two Suns ---with Dos Palillos as the only one in Catalan territory--- and 69 One Sun, distributed throughout Spanish and Andorran geography. Awards that have, once again, highlighted the talent and diversity of Spanish gastronomy.
With these 83 new Suns, the guide now features 46 Three Suns, 173 Two Suns, and 589 One Sun spread across the country, in addition to 1,605 Restaurants in the Repsol Guide (until now called Recommended), with 242 new additions.
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