Lucena successfully held its First Olive Oil Tourism Gastronomic Gathering, an initiative reinforcing Aceite de Lucena PDO extra virgin olive oil as one of its major tourist attractions.
The event took place last Friday in the grand hall of the Palacio de los Condes de Santa Ana, where two renowned chefs showcased local gastronomy through live cooking, with Lucena olive oil as the star ingredient.
Participants included Periko Ortega, chef at Córdoba’s ReComiendo restaurant, recently awarded a Michelin star, and Luis Contreras, head of Japanish, one of Lucena’s most innovative and promising gastronomic venues. Both prepared several recipes live, showing their creative and culinary processes with Lucena olive oil at their heart.
The gathering brought together 80 people, filling the emblematic venue. It combined historic heritage and contemporary cuisine in an event rated very positively by attendees.
This initiative forms part of Lucena’s annual programme to promote olive oil tourism, a strategy developed in collaboration with the Aceite de Lucena PDO and its Secretary-General, Patricia Caraballo.
Olive oil tourism has become a pillar of the municipality’s tourism strategy. Since its presentation at Fitur 2025, this promotional initiative has appeared at provincial and national fairs, establishing extra virgin olive oil as a leading tourism product for the city.
