Tenerife has another reason to be proud this week.
Xavier Luis Boya has been named Best Chef in the Canary Islands 2026 after winning the XX Canary Islands Cooking Championship GastroCanarias 2026 Gran Premio Cepsa, held at the Recinto Ferial de Tenerife.
And this wasn’t a small local contest either.
GastroCanarias is the longest-running culinary championship in the Canary Islands and is widely regarded as one of the most demanding competitions in Spain.
A Competition Built on Skill, Pressure and Improvisation
The final brought together five chefs who had just 135 minutes to create two dishes under competition conditions.
The twist comes every year with the mystery ingredient.
This edition centred around ñame, the traditional Canarian root vegetable with pre-Hispanic origins that is only revealed to competitors the day before the event.
The second dish was created using ingredients from the famous “Surprise Box”, designed to test creativity, adaptability and technical ability under pressure.
Boya impressed the judges throughout all evaluation areas:
• Kitchen organisation
• Culinary technique
• Recipe execution
• Presentation
• Flavour
His dishes stood out for both technical quality and interpretation of the ingredients.
The GastroCanarias 2026 Podium
🥇 Xavier Luis Boya (Tenerife)
🥈 Javier Castillo Marrero (Gran Canaria)
🥉 Gabriele Bernucci Ghidini (Tenerife)
Special recognition also went to:
🏅 Michael Eduardo Martín Bracamonte, awarded Best Assistant, earning automatic qualification for next year’s final.
Strong Tenerife Presence in the Final
The finalists competing this year were:
• Eric Guerrero Serrano (Tenerife)
• Xavier Luis Boya (Tenerife)
• Javier Castillo Marrero (Gran Canaria)
• Gabriele Bernucci Ghidini (Tenerife)
• Yurena Rodríguez Pacheco (Tenerife)
Tenerife dominated the line-up, with four of the five finalists representing the island.
Not bad going at all.
GastroCanarias Continues Until 21 May
The championship forms part of GastroCanarias 2026, taking place from 19 to 21 May at the Recinto Ferial de Tenerife.
Over three days the event brings together chefs, producers, hospitality businesses and food professionals from across the islands.
At this stage it has become far more than a food fair.
It’s where the Canarian food sector catches up, shows off and quietly competes with each other over who’s doing things best.
This year, at least in the kitchen competition…
Tenerife came out on top.