ACEVIN completes the ‘Wine Tourism Experiences of Spain’ project, developed within the NextGeneration EU funds.

The Spanish Association of Wine Cities (ACEVIN) has completed the projects developed over the last two years within the framework of the “Spain Tourism Experiences” Program, an initiative of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism financed with Next Generation EU funds. The program aims to increase and improve the experiences that make up Spain’s tourism offering. The program is part of the Spanish Government’s Recovery, Transition, and Resilience Plan and integrated into the Tourism Sector Modernization and Competitiveness Plan of the State Secretariat for Tourism.
Under the name ‘Wine Tourism Experiences in Spain: Observatory, Innovative Experiences, Circular Economy and Omnichannel Sales of Unique Experiences’, ACEVIN has coordinated the implementation of an ambitious project that, including different actions framed within the guidelines established by the ‘Spain Tourism Experiences’ strategy – Innovate, Integrate and Communicate – has been structured around four main axes: Digitalization of the Spanish Wine Routes Tourism Observatory, Training Consulting in Tourism Experiences, Implementation of Circular Economy Models and Communication and Marketing.
The project involved a total of 33 stakeholders: 32 Wine Routes (participants as separate, autonomous organizations) and the Spanish Association of Wine Cities. The diversity of this partnership (united, moreover, under the Wine Routes of Spain product club) determined that one of the fundamental objectives was to achieve a certain degree of homogenization in the level of service offered by the Wine Routes and in the quality of the experiences offered by each of them. As Ana Cano, manager of ACEVIN, points out, “the project was developed as a Product Club, but it was implemented through numerous joint actions.” “The initiative didn’t emerge spontaneously as a response to a call for aid. Rather, the Experiencias Turismo España program was seen as an ideal opportunity for the national wine tourism ecosystem, led by ACEVIN, to take a step forward as one of the pillars in shaping a sustainable, modern, and top-quality tourism offering,” he notes.
Thus, nearly half of the total budget has been channeled through joint contracts; these actions, understood as “core” and “leading,” have shaped the project and necessarily had to be driven by the largest possible number of beneficiaries to generate synergies and economies of scale that would facilitate the expansion of the project to all the territories covered by the Wine Routes involved. The six key actions were:
– Digitalization of the Tourist Observatory of the Wine Routes of Spain through a
Wine Tourism Intelligence System
– Training in Sustainable Wine Tourism Experiences
– Benchmarking analysis and identification of good practices in the circular economy
– Creation of an Image Bank and new Audiovisual Material
– Digital Marketing Plan for ACEVIN and the Wine Routes of Spain brand
– Design, development and launch of a Wine Tourism Experiences Portal
Nearly two million euros for networking. The financial support received within the ‘Experiencias Turismo España’ program, awarded and approved by the Secretary of State for Tourism, has amounted to a total of 1,757,647 euros, distributed mainly through the development of joint projects, but also through specific actions for each of the participating Wine Routes. Thus, it can be said that the ‘Wine Tourism Experiences of Spain’ Program was a project conceived by and intended to strengthen networking. Overall, 13 Autonomous Communities participated; more than 1,400 active users from across the country participated in the Wine Tourism Intelligence System; 32 territories participated in in-person training activities; nearly 700 people from across the country benefited from the training program; more than 100 municipalities were visited to compile the image bank and audiovisual material, and more than 400 tourism experiences/products were created for the reservation portal. This networking will continue, as is only natural, in the implementation of each of the projects generated: participation in the development of the Wine Tourism Intelligence System as well as in the ongoing design of experiences for the marketing portal; coordination of the promotion and communication of the Wine Routes of Spain brand through the use of more than 1,500 photographs and videos; Joint development of the Marketing Plan, which includes a three-year operational plan; generation of knowledge to share within Circular Economy initiatives; training of new stakeholders through training programs, etc.
‘Wine Tourism Experiences in Spain’, as part of the ‘Spain Tourism Experiences’ program, represents a turning point in the work carried out by ACEVIN and its Wine Routes of Spain product club. Having become the benchmark for quality wine tourism in our country and a model of wine tourism management for organizations such as the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the implementation of the projects developed thanks to Next Generation EU funds will undoubtedly represent a qualitative leap that will allow this product club and the Association itself to remain at the forefront of the sector when it comes to showcasing and promoting Spain from a wine tourism perspective.

The Wine Route present at the ACEVIN General Assembly

From May 20th to 22nd, we participated in the 32nd ACEVIN General Assembly, which took place in Cariñena (Zaragoza), one of the cities that forms part of the Association and which, in addition, will hold the title of European City of Wine this year, 2025.At this meeting, which brought together around one hundred partners and members of the different Wine Routes of Spain, the Association’s actions during the past year were analyzed and the topics scheduled for the coming months were addressed, among which the development of some of the actions framed within the ‘Spain Tourism Experiences’ Program promoted by the State Secretariat for Tourism and financed by Next Generation EU funds. Thus, for example, the new Wine Tourism Intelligence System was presented, which will now govern the Tourism Observatory of Wine Routes of Spain. This is the only tool that currently collects data related to wine tourism throughout Spain, systematically and with a sufficiently representative population. For the creation and design of this Wine Tourism Intelligence System, which involved an investment of more than 300,000 euros, ACEVIN collaborated with Eurecat Technology Center, a European technology benchmark for companies in projects and challenges related to innovation and data collection and analysis. Likewise, the new marketing portal for Wine Routes of Spain was presented to members, another project on which ACEVIN has been working for some time and which will significantly boost the promotion and marketing of wine tourism experiences designed by the 37 Wine Routes of Spain that are part of this brand.

Along with these topics, the partners were also presented with the digital marketing plan, also created within the framework of the “Experiencia Turismo España” program, which will begin in early 2026 and continue over the next three years.

In addition to the General Assembly, a new Management Committee for the Wine Routes of Spain was also held. This is the product club created and managed by ACEVIN, which has become the benchmark for wine tourism in our country.

The Ronda and Málaga Wine Route the best in Spain at the 2024 Best in Class Wine Awards.

Malaga, April 11, 2025.- The municipality of Tomelloso, in Ciudad Real, was yesterday the venue for the “Best in Class Wine Awards 2024” awards ceremony, in which the “Ronda and Malaga Wine Route” was chosen as the “best wine route to discover” in Spain. These awards, promoted by the WineUp! Guide, aim to recognize excellence, quality, and uniqueness in the world of wine.

“The wine route was certified as a Wine Route of Spain in 2013, and since then, significant work has been done to expand it to encompass the entire province. This award, which fills us with pride, recognizes the work carried out over all these years and encourages us to continue working in the same vein and with the same enthusiasm. Furthermore, we are particularly pleased that this award was based on a public vote, as, without a doubt, our main objective is for the end consumer to appreciate our wines and learn about our regions through them,” said José María Losantos, president of the Ronda and Málaga Wine Route.

The “Best in Class Wine Awards” recognize the best wines of the year in categories such as red, rosé, sparkling, brandy, and best value. They also award the “The Spanis Monovarietal Wine Ambassador” prizes to the best single-varietal wines. Each year, they also present prizes in categories voted for by the public, such as best new winery, wine tourism project, internationalization initiative,

Young sommelier talent or outstanding institution of the year. This year, and for the first time at these awards, the category of “Best Wine Route to Discover” was established, with the Ronda and Málaga Wine Route like winner (rutavinorondamalaga.com) Other routes competing in the category were La Mancha, Cigales, and Sierra de Francia wine routes.

The Wine Up! Guide, the event organizer, was recognized in 2023 as the best wine guide in Spain by the IWC Industry Awards Spain. Its ratings are conducted through blind tastings at no cost to participating wineries.

The Awards Gala also included a tribute to Sarah Jane Evans MW, a renowned expert on our Malaga wine-producing regions and wines. She was chosen as “Person of the Year 2024” for her professional career and her work promoting Spanish wines internationally.

The Ronda and Málaga Wine Route is one of the 37 wine routes certified by ACEVIN and currently includes the municipalities of Ronda, Málaga, Arriate, Moclinejo, Almáchar, Cómpeta, El Borge, Sayalonga, Manilva, and Mollina. These routes include wineries registered with the Regulatory Council of the Málaga and Sierras de Málaga Designations of Origin, museums, interpretation centers, restaurants, hotels, establishments, and associated tour guides.

The Enogastronomic Tourism of the province of Malaga is promoted at the International Tourism Fair FINE 2024.

The Wine Route of Ronda and Malaga, with the support of Tourism and Planning Costa del Sol, has participated in the fifth edition of the International Tourism Fair FINE #winetourismismmarket, which this year has gathered in Valladolid more than a hundred wineries and Wine Routes of Spain, Portugal and Italy along with specialized tour operators from 23 countries.

Promote the province of Malaga and especially its tourism potential from the point of view of Enogastronomy, has been the main objective of the presence of the Wine Route of Ronda and Malaga in this event, in which meetings have been held with 38 tour operators from 14 countries, highlighting in number of contacts, the outbound destinations of USA, Portugal, United Kingdom and Mexico.

In addition to highlighting the rich landscape of our territories, the high quality of the wines produced in our province and the supply and sustainability of our wine tourism, each of our different wine-growing areas has been associated with the enogastronomic, cultural and natural tourist attractions of these areas, highlighting other provincial resources: oletourism, Malaga goat, cheeses, cured meats, vegetable garden and tropical products, without forgetting the Malaga raisin, a unique product that is part of the Important Systems of the World Agricultural Heritage, declared by the FAO.

In addition to the business meetings held in the business area, during these two days promotional material of the Wine Route of Ronda and Malaga, and the Guide “Unique Experiences of Gastronomic Tourism Routes with a Taste of Malaga” published by Tourism and Planning Costa del Sol has been delivered.

The Wine Route of Ronda and Malaga organizes the first wine tourism festival in the province of Malaga “Descorcha Experience”.

More than 200 people participated in the first wine tourism festival in the province of Malaga “Descorcha Experience” held this Saturday, December 9, with free experiences that have highlighted the heritage and wine culture of Malaga.

The event, sponsored by Tourism and Planning Costa del Sol, has been launched by the Association for the Development of Viticulture and Wine Tourism of Ronda and Malaga through the draw of dozens of experiences in social networks in which thousands of users have shown interest.

Tastings, visits to vineyards and wineries, gatherings, food and wine pairing and many other activities that combine gastronomy, culture and tourism have been carried out in the towns that make up the Wine Route of Ronda and Malaga, which brings together five wine production areas: Axarquia, Serrania de Ronda, Manilva, Montes de Malaga and North Zone of Malaga.

The experiences have been developed in the wineries BadMan Wines (Ronda), Carpe Diem (Mollina), Doña Felisa (Ronda), A. Muñoz Cabrera -Dimobe- (Moclinejo), Excelencia (Ronda), Huerto de la Condesa (Ronda), Kieninger (Ronda), La Capuchina (Mollina), La Melonera (Ronda), Lunares (Ronda), Nilva Enoturismo (Manilva) and Quitapenas (Málaga); the restaurants Araboka Plaza (Málaga), El Descorche (Málaga) and Restaurante Pedro Romero (Ronda); the Málaga Wine Museum; and with the leisure company Milamores (Ronda).

The president of the Wine Route of Ronda and Malaga, José María Losantos, celebrates the great interest shown by locals and visitors in this event, as well as invites more public to continue knowing “the quality and wealth of the province in the field of wine tourism”.