Virginia Barcones points out that the Judión de La Granja is a culinary heritage that complements the cultural and landscape of Castilla y León

• The delegate of the Government attends the ‘Gran Judiada’ in which 10,000 people participate invited by the City Council of the Real Sitio de San Ildefonso on the occasion of the patron saint’s parties in honor of San Luis

August 22, 2023.- The delegate of the Government in Castilla y León, Virginia Barcones, has attended in La Granja the ‘Gran Judiada’ invited by the City of the Real Sitio de San Ildefonso. He highlighted the importance of La Granja’s handicap in gastronomic tourism, a tourism that complements the cultural and landscape of the province of Segovia and Castilla y León.

Virginia Barcones has recognized that she is a firm defender of the traditions of Castilla y León since it is these traditions that generate a feeling of community and of being Castilian and Leonese. One of those elements is the culinary, a gastronomic richness “varied” and of “quality” in which “as Castilians and Leoneses, we feel recognized”.

In this regard, he explained that in the ‘Gran Judiada’ some of these circumstances are given both by their dimensions, and by the care and attachment to the tradition with which it is celebrated. A tradition that was born from a meeting of friends on August 22, 1976 and that nowadays “is one of the most commemorative gastronomic meetings” of Castilla y León by bringing together 10,000 people who “taste one of the products with the greatest recognition of our gastronomy”.

The delegate of the Government has highlighted the dedication and professionalism with which the Segovia Cook Association elaborates from the judión of La Granja, “that kind of culinary ceremonial art”, in which 1,500 kilos of this gastronomic product are elaborated, so representative and that it combines so well with a multitude of gastronomic products elaborated in Castilla y León.

“The Judión de La Granja is one of the culinary patrimonies of Castilla y León. A heritage that for its quality and culinary properties must be preserved and protected with days like today’s, without forgetting the support for farmers who grow such a distinguished product”, added Barcones.

La Granja’s damage has a Guarantee Mark that protects it from external interference, guarantees its geographical origin as well as establishes product development guidelines. “There are many Judiones, but not all of them have the seal and quality of those that are produced in La Granja,” he stressed.

In this regard, he recalled that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, through the ‘Food of Spain’ program, values the quality of food and promotes the Spanish agri-food system. He explained that this program aims to protect the quality and production of products through quality labels such as the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO); the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), and the Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (ETG).

La Granja stands out for its cultural and landscape heritage. The delegate of the Government has added the damage of La Granja to that heritage of Castilla y León, to that culinary heritage “so varied and of such quality that there is in our Community”. In this sense, he has recalled that interior gastronomic tourism is increasingly fashionable in our country. It is a type of tourism that diversifies “our economy and is complemented by cultural and landscape tourism”.

Virginia Barcones recalled that the Government of Spain supports this gastronomic tourism with the investments made by National Heritage in the conservation and improvement of the patrimonial wealth of the region. Thus, in 2022, 1.3 million were allocated to the maintenance of the Royal Palace of La Granja and that of Riofrio.

Also in La Granja an investment of 45,900 euros has been made in the millimetric replacement of one of the pinnacles that crown the north face of the old Royal Knights. This performance involved the restoration of that architectural element of 400 kilos and located at more than 30 meters of height with which all its majesty was returned to that tower.

The Government delegate also recalled that on June 20, the Council of Ministers approved an investment of more than three million euros for the adaptation of the visitor reception center and the Tapestry Museum in the Royal Palace under the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

The Government also allocates funds for the maintenance of the Reference Centre for Environmental Education (CENEAM) in Valsaín.

Before finishing, Virginia Barcones has asked all the attendees of the ‘Gran Judiada’ to enjoy one of the most recognized gastronomic resources of Castilla y León. He has also encouraged all the attendees to participate in the patron saint’s festivities of La Granja in honor of San Luis.