The fifth Tapas & Pinchos competition, part of the Gastronomic Calendar was officially launched up at the Mirador in the Old Town today - a fabulous iconic setting. 26 restaurants are taking part this year – a record, showing the popularity and competitiveness of each.

This year the event has been extended from one week to nine days and each of the participating restaurants will offer Tapas and Pinchos for a set price of 2 euros. In his speech the Mayor praised and congratulated the exceptionally high standard and creativity of the dishes, emphasizing the importance that this event has achieved over five years.

Each of the chefs prepared their entry for the panel to taste, which consisted of professional chefs and food critics. There are 2 categories; traditional and innovative which the public will also vote on over the course of the nine days so resulting in 2 awards for each category – the professionals choice and the publics choice.

At each participating restaurant, which will have a poster in the window “5th Concurso de Tapas y Pinchos” to identify it, there will be voting slips with each of the restaurants and their creation listed – you just have to tick your favourite, only one mind and then post into the sealed box.... but make sure you try as many as possible first!

The Tourist Information Office has a colour booklet listing all the restaurants, their location together with a picture and description of their entry – so you can look through and decide which ones you fancy trying. Take an afternoon to do a tapas trail and see how many you can try – at only 2 euros a go it’s a fun way to try something different. The competition starts this Saturday, 9th and finishes on Sunday 17th.