Barcelona bakery wins Spain's Best Croissant Award for second time

Barcelona's Brunells Bakery won the 17th edition of Spain's Best Artisan Butter Croissant Awards on Tuesday.

This is the second time the renowned bakery, located in the historic Ciutat Vella district, has won the award.

After a long morning of deliberations at the headquarters of the Barcelona Pastry Guild, the judges selected the croissant created by pastry chef Andreu Sayó as the winner "by a wide margin."

"I don't know how I won. I was disappointed because they didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked, but I see that the judges really liked them," Sayó told Catalan News after receiving the award. 

From the early hours of the morning, top pastry chefs from all over Spain gathered in Barcelona to prepare their best croissants.

Each contestant had to present 12 artisanal butter croissants, plain and without any fillings or decorations, all made in the kitchens of the Barcelona Pastry Guild.

The jury was made up of renowned pastry chefs from all over Spain, including Gil Prat of Pastisseria Prat in Barcelona, who won last year's competition.

One of the pastry chefs on the jury, Ester Roelas, explained how the winner was chosen.

"We first made a selection by weight, then by color and shape. Then we cut the croissants and check for air pockets. If all these criteria are not correct, we discard them. Finally, we taste the remaining ones and score them," she said. 

In the last five years, the title has been won four times by Barcelona bakeries, with Brunells winning twice. The others are Pastisseria Prat and Canal.