The best butter croissant in Spain is made (for the fourth time) by the Canal bakery in Barcelona

BarcelonaThe best artisan butter croissant in Spain is made by the Canal bakery, with workshops on Calvet and Muntaner streets in Barcelona. This was decided by the jury of the Best Croissant in Spain competition, organized by the Barcelona Pastry Guild. The winning pastry chef, Toni Vera, is not winning the competition for the first time; this year, he makes it four times. He managed to become the best in 2016, 2019, and 2022: that is, every three years he has managed to rise to number 1. "Our croissant is a team effort," the pastry chef emphasized when collecting the award, referring to all the workers at the Canal bakery, who...

The winning croissant is straight, as is typical of all-butter croissants; the interior is highly spongy and raised, creamy white, and the exterior is crisp and an appealingly toasted color. There's a reason why an elongated croissant without horns always wins: bakers believe this is the way to achieve perfect dough, which is why they always opt for this shape. Otherwise, with horns, they believe it's impossible to achieve uniform quality, because the horns have a texture that's distinct from the rest.

Croissants, before 11 am

To win, the pastry chef had to comply with the competition's regulations, which stipulate that the croissants had to be presented this Tuesday before 11 a.m. at the Barcelona Pastry Guild, the competition headquarters, where the jury met. If any of the contestants or even a member of the jury shows up after 11 a.m., they are no longer eligible to participate. "We are very strict with the time because we know that freshly made croissants are better. In fact, among the winning croissants from other editions, there are some that the competing pastry chefs had brought to the competition three or four minutes before 11 a.m.," says Olivier Fernández, manager of the Guild. This fact could explain why some pastry chefs with workshops near the Guild have won several editions, as is the case with Brunells Pastry Shop, on Princesa Street, which was last year's winner and who had also won the 2020 edition.

However, the Guild manager explains that for the competition, pastry chefs seek out alliances among themselves, and often those from towns outside of Barcelona prepare the croissants in the competition at nearby bakeries owned by friends. "I would say that the competition fosters this teamwork among pastry chefs, who leave counters and ovens for fellow professionals; every year we see how alliances are formed among each other, and therefore many of those who enter end up preparing their croissants near the Guild headquarters," continues the manager of the competition, the best croissant in the country.

The winner takes a check for a thousand euros, and the organizers assure that often the pastry chefs don't even come to collect it"The award gives visibility and prestige to the bakery, which not only starts selling more croissants but also all the pastries in general that it prepares daily," says Olivier Fernández. In other words, for the winner, the real prize is the daily flood of customers they will serve at the bakery just hours after the contest ends. And so it goes for months afterward. In this sense, pastry chef Andreu Sayó, of the Brunells bakery, says that since they won, they've gone from making 4,000 croissants a week to 7,000. "And we've remained that way throughout the year," he asserts. In fact, "we noticed the change in demand the first year we won the contest, in 2020, when we went from 500 croissants a week to 4,000 a week," continues the pastry chef, who this year was unable to compete but had to be a member of the jury, as required by the competition's regulations.

The Barcelona Pastry Guild has been organizing this competition for the best croissant in Spain for eighteen years, and since then it has become more talked about than ever, to the point that one could say that Catalan pastry chefs, and those in Spain in general, are standing up to the croissants of Paris. However, in the French capital, this sweet treat is ostentatiously cheaper than those sold in Barcelona. Many of Paris' pastry shops sell croissants for between €1.20 and €1.50, even those that have won awards, as is the case with the Utopia pastry shop in Paris.

This year's jury was composed of pastry chefs: Andreu Sayó, Carles Carreras (from Núria bakery in Terrassa), Miguel Zaguirre (Zaguirre Pastissers and president of the Barcelona Pastry Guild), and Miguel Moreno (from Pan y Cacao bakery in Madrid and president of the Confe Pastelería). On the other hand, Michelin-starred chefs: Oriol Castro, from the Disfrutar restaurant, JVilà barley, from Alkimia and Artur Martínez, from Aürt (recently closed for a new location). And there was also Jon García, from the Jon Cake cheesecake bakery; gastronomy expert Stella Alikowa; chocolatier Cristian Larrosa of Lot Roasters; Javier González (of Elle & Vire butter and cream); and Manel Corbalán (of Harinas Ylla 1878). Finally, food journalists Fernando Toda ('Dulcypas') and Ferran Imedio of Periódico de Catalunya participated in this year's competition. Nearly sixty pastry chefs participated in this year's competition.