Zamora is hosting the First Bread and Flour Symposium, a prelude to the major PanFest 2027

The city of Zamora is hosting the First Bread and Flour Symposium, a groundbreaking event that will bring together some of the most prominent figures in the national baking and culinary scene at the Palacio de la Encarnación in Zamora. This event takes place in the only province in the country that holds a Quality Guarantee Mark for flour: Harina Tradicional Zamorana.

The symposium was created with the aim of reclaiming the role of bread and flour as cultural, social, and economic pillars of our diet. Despite being essential products in the Mediterranean diet and part of Spain’s culinary identity, their value has been eroded by decades of industrialization, homogenization, and the loss of traditional knowledge and flavors.

PanFest 2027 emerges as a transformative project that seeks to restore bread to the prominence it deserves, placing Zamora at the center of a network of knowledge, production, and creation centered on quality flours. Sponsored by Caja Rural de Zamora and its foundation, and organized by Madrid Fusion and Vocento Gastronomía, the festival—which will culminate in 2027 with an International Bread Championship—is structured as a series of events that boost the visibility of farmers, millers, and artisan bakers committed to excellence. As a prelude to all these events, the First Bread and Flour Symposium will take place, featuring key figures from the baking and gastronomy sectors who will discuss and share ideas about the industry.

The first roundtable of the day is titled “Flour, an Ingredient with Soul.” Participants will include Samuel Moreno, from El Molino de Alcuneza** (Sigüenza, Guadalajara), a leading figure in haute cuisine baking who creates single-variety breads using organic flours and sourdough; Guillermo Moscoso, from the Pan da Moa bakery (Santiago de Compostela), heir to a four-generation family tradition who is transforming Galician baking from his bakery in Santiago; Juan Carbajo Aguirre, CEO of Molinos del Duero (Zamora), who advocates for natural milling and respect for the grain to recover the genuine aromas and flavors of Zamora flour; and Elisabete Ferreira, from Pão de Gimonde (Braganza, Portugal), named World Baker of the Year 2024 by the International Union of Bakers and Confectioners (UIBC), an award given to professionals who stand out for their baking excellence, both in terms of technical skill and creativity as well as product innovation.

Under the title “Bread and Haute Cuisine: From Side Dish to Star of the Menu,” there will be a second talk featuring Daniel Jordà, a Barcelona-based artisan baker who has elevated bread to an art form by collaborating with numerous Michelin-starred chefs; Ibán Yarza, a Bilbao-based educator, writer, and trainer, considered the leading authority on artisanal bread in Spain thanks to his work promoting the craft through his books “El foro del pan” and “La memoria del pan”; Annika García Escudero from Zamora, co-owner and maître d’ of the Iván Cerdeño** (Toledo)—awarded the Best Restaurant Bread 2025 prize by Alimentos de España—and Luis Alberto Lera, chef at the Lera** restaurant (Castroverde de Campos, Zamora), an international leader in game cuisine, who champions bread as an essential part of the culinary experience, baked in a wood-fired oven and linked to the memory of the Tierra de Campos region.

The symposium will also serve as the official launch of the PanFest 2027 project, led by the director of Madrid Fusión, Benjamín Lana, and the general director of Caja Rural de Zamora, Cipriano García Rodríguez. Speakers at the event will include the Deputy Mayor of the City of Zamora, David Gago, the President of the Zamora Provincial Council, Javier Faúndez Domínguez, and the Regional Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Rural Development of the Junta de Castilla y León, María González Corral.

This first gathering will mark the beginning of a movement aimed at reconnecting society with the value of authentic bread, its regions, its production processes, and its artisans, positioning Zamora as the capital of quality bread and flour.

PanFest 2027, sponsored by Caja Rural de Zamora and its foundation, and organized by Madrid Fusion and Vocento Gastronomía, is supported by the Regional Government of Castile and León, the Zamora Provincial Council, and the City of Zamora, with the collaboration of Harina Tradicional Zamorana, Molinos del Duero, and the Zamora Sheep Consortium, with new sponsors and partners set to join in the future.