June the 21st, 2024 – On June the 20th, the Ambassador of Spain in Croatia and the Counsellor for Tourism of the Embassy of Spain celebrated World Tapas Day at the iconic Zagreb Esplanade Hotel.
The Zagreb Esplanade Hotel played host to the event in order to further promote Spain’s exceptionally rich tourist offer and celebrate timeless Spanish culture through its gastronomic symbol – tapas. The event was visited by numerous business associates from the tourism industry, influencers, local media and influential guests.
what actually is tapas?
Tapas refers to small portions of various dishes that are traditionally served with drinks such as wine or beer. This gastronomic tradition originates from Spain and is popular all over the world. It has even been developed into haute cuisine. The idea is to consume tapas as a light meal or as a snack between main meals. Traditionally, people in Spain often go out to bars and restaurants to enjoy a variety of tapas, which are an important part of Spain’s gastronomic culture and an expression of its richness and diversity.
there’s been a marked increase in spain from croats
Ambassador of Spain in Croatia H.E. Juan González-Barba Pera emphasized: “World Tapas Day is an event that takes place every year around the world to celebrate Spanish gastronomy and its unique tradition of tapas. It’s a tradition that perfectly depicts and defines the authentic Spanish way of life and hospitality. I’ve witnessed the increasing interest of our Croatian citizens in Spain. The number of Croats visiting Spain has been growing (it currently stands at slightly more than 100,000 visits from Croatia to Spain per year) as well as the number of Spaniards coming to Croatia (around 300,000 of them). I’m extremely grateful for the excellent work of the Croatian tourism sector, which is representing Spanish destinations and tourism products”.
Isabel Garaña, advisor for tourism at the Embassy of Spain, pointed out: “Spain is a hospitable, cheerful and warm-hearted country. In 2023, we received 85.1 million passengers who generated 108 billion euros in total. We’re a leader in tourism, but we want to be leaders in sustainable tourism as well. We want to attract high-value travellers whose habits add value to the destinations they visit because they travel in a different way: all year round, with wider motivations than the sun and the beach, such as culture, gastronomy, shopping, ecotourism, itineraries, and have respect for the environment and for local people. According to our research, last year, as many as 98% of international travellers were very satisfied or satisfied with their experience in our country”.
