Sigüenza reaffirms its leadership in rural and culinary tourism at the opening of Discover-EAT

The Church of Santiago in Sigüenza hosted the opening of Discover-EAT, a conference created with the aim of establishing rural areas as the main setting for gastronomic tourism. The Director General of Tourism, Arantxaa Pérez Gil, highlighted Sigüenza’s role as a regional leader, where the combination of heritage and cuisine has led to record visitor numbers and accelerated the development of the rural area.

Mayor María Jesús Merino highlighted the exceptional cultural heritage of the city and its 28 districts, as well as the efforts to have its landscape, along with that of Atienza, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. She also highlighted the driving force of the Michelin-starred restaurants Enrique and Samuel, which have raised the culinary bar throughout the region and helped reverse depopulation, with sustained population growth in recent years.

For his part, Benjamín Lana, director of Vocento Gastronomía and the conference, defended gastronomy as a complete reflection of a society and called for a form of tourism focused on improving the lives of residents rather than simply attracting visitors. He emphasized authenticity as the key to the future of tourism and noted that Castilla-La Mancha and Sigüenza boast “genuine” rural life, nature, and heritage—assets capable of competing as an international destination if they are effectively promoted.

The Regional Minister of Economy, Business, and Employment, Patricia Franco, framed Discover-EAT within the regional strategy to combat depopulation and recalled the economic impact of the first conference in Campo de Criptana, expressing confidence that those figures would be surpassed in Sigüenza. She also announced the expansion of the network of tourist municipalities and championed public-private partnerships, gastronomy, and astro-tourism—with the upcoming August eclipse on the horizon—as drivers for building sustainable destinations and “better places to live.”