Thousands of people attend the inauguration of the 9th ‘City of Estepona’ World Ham Festival

This gastronomic event, declared ‘Event of Tourist Interest of Andalusia’, will take place until August 15 at the Paseo Marítimo.

The event includes free concerts every night by artists and groups such as Navajita Plateá, Falete, La Húngara, Los Centellas, Miguel Sáez, Seguridad Social or Los Inhumanos, among others.

The mayor of Estepona, José María García Urbano, the president of the Association of Municipalities of the Western Costa del Sol, Manuel Cardeña and the head of ‘Sabor a Málaga’, Leonor García-Agua, inaugurated the IX World Ham Contest ‘Popi’ City of Estepona, organized by the City of Estepona with the professional cutter, José María Téllez.

The gastronomic event, which aims to highlight the figure of the ham cutter, will be held until August 15 on the Paseo Marítimo. It is sponsored by the brand ‘Sabor a Málaga’ of the Provincial Council of Malaga and the Ministry of Tourism of the Junta de Andalucía.

This contest stimulates, fundamentally, the sector of ham and pork products, and indirectly to other agri-food products of the province. In total, the public will be able to visit 65 exhibitors, with more than 200 professional ham cutters, making up one of the largest tastings of these products in the world. Among this year’s participants will be a dozen producers from Málaga.

The organization’s forecast is that during the eight days of the event the number of visitors will exceed the 500,000 of the eighth edition. From 7:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., visitors will be able to purchase Iberian ham and other pork products, as well as cheeses and artisan breads. In addition, they will be able to appreciate live the work of professional ham cutters and taste the freshly cut dishes at a price of only five euros, accompanied by wines with PDO Malaga and Sierras de Malaga, and Malaga beers that will be available at all the bars.

The ‘Jamón Festival Music’, the entertainment part of the event, will offer free musical performances every day from 23.30 hours. So during the next few days will perform Fernando Caro and Saray Jimenez (day 9), Los Centellas (day 10), La Húngara (day 11), Los Inhumanos (day 12), Seguridad Social (day 13), El Callejón and Gloria Bendita (day 14), and Miguel Sáez and Mario Méndez (day 15).