Two hams from Castilla y León have taken the top national awards in the 2026 Alimentos de España competition, with winners from Segovia and Salamanca receiving Spain's recognised prizes for Jamón Serrano and Jamón de Bellota Ibérico.

The awards were granted by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and officially published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado on August 6.

Two categories, two winners

The competition has two main ham categories.

The award for the Best Jamón Serrano or other recognised quality figure went to Jamón Serrano 24 - Monte Nevado, presented by Jamones Segovia S.A. from Carbonero el Mayor in the province of Segovia.

The Best Jamón de Bellota Ibérico award went to Jamón de Bellota 100% Ibérico Guillén, presented by Manuel Guillén S.A. from Guijuelo in Salamanca.

Both winning companies are therefore based in Castilla y León.

The winning Serrano comes from Segovia

Jamón Serrano 24 - Monte Nevado is produced by Jamones Segovia, whose company headquarters are in Carbonero el Mayor.

The product belongs to the Jamón Serrano Especialidad Tradicional Garantizada, or ETG, quality designation.

Monte Nevado describes the product as a traditionally cured Serrano ham with an average curing period of around 24 months.

The complete pieces weigh approximately 8 to 9 kilograms.

The Iberian winner comes from Guijuelo

The second national award went to Jamón de Bellota 100% Ibérico Guillén from Manuel Guillén S.A.

The company is based in Guijuelo, one of Spain's best-known centres for Iberian ham production, in Salamanca.

The winning product is classified as Jamón de Bellota 100% Ibérico, the highest category within the competition's Iberian ham category.

What 100% Iberian bellota means

The name refers to the product's classification rather than simply its place of origin.

The winning ham is made from 100% Iberian pigs and falls within the “Jamón de Bellota 100% Ibérico” denomination of sale.

The category is specifically included in the Alimentos de España competition alongside the separate Jamón Serrano category.

51 samples entered the competition

The 2026 competition attracted 51 samples from producers across Spain.

Of these, 17 competed in the category for Jamón Serrano and other recognised quality figures.

A further 34 samples were submitted in the Jamón de Bellota Ibérico category.

The two winning products were therefore selected from entries representing producers from across the country.

How the hams were judged

The judging process included sensory assessment of the products.

The jury considered characteristics including aroma, flavour, texture and visual appearance.

The tastings took place between June 17 and June 19 at two specialist facilities: the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, known as IRTA, in Girona, and the Service for Analysis and Innovation in Products of Animal Origin at the University of Extremadura in Cáceres.

The evaluation process was carried out under conditions designed to maintain the traceability and anonymity of the samples.

The Serrano winner has a long curing period

The winning Jamón Serrano 24 is known for its extended curing process.

Monte Nevado states that it selects white pigs according to characteristics including size, maturity and fat proportion before allowing the hams to undergo a long natural curing process.

The company says the Serrano 24 is cured for an average of around 24 months.

This extended curing forms part of the product's characteristics, although the award itself was determined through the official competition's judging process rather than simply by curing time.

A repeated national recognition for Monte Nevado

Jamón Serrano 24 has now received the Alimentos de España award in several editions.

According to Monte Nevado's current product information, the same product received the Jamón Serrano award in 2026, 2025 and 2022.

The company has also accumulated other distinctions in the history of the competition.

The 2026 award nevertheless represents the current year's official national recognition.

Guijuelo remains closely linked with Iberian ham

The second winning company comes from Guijuelo, a municipality internationally associated with Iberian pork products.

Manuel Guillén says its Iberian hams undergo lengthy curing in its facilities.

Its current product information lists the 100% Iberian bellota ham with a curing period of approximately 48 months for the product currently sold through its online store.

That commercial information relates to the current product offering and should be distinguished from the Ministry's award itself.

The awards are part of the Alimentos de España programme

The Best Hams awards form part of the Spanish Government's wider Alimentos de España programme.

The awards are intended to recognise quality and promote Spanish food products.

The ham competition was created in 2016 and includes the two categories represented in the 2026 edition.

The Ministry says the winning companies also receive preferential access to promotional activities organised through the programme.

The official result was published in the BOE

Although the results were announced publicly in August, the definitive legal award is contained in Order APA/830/2026.

The order is dated July 10, 2026 and was published in the BOE on August 6.

It formally grants the two prizes and records the companies and products that won each category.

This is the official basis for identifying the 2026 winners.

From Segovia to Salamanca

The double result places two different parts of Castilla y León at the centre of Spain's 2026 national ham awards.

Segovia takes the Serrano category with Jamón Serrano 24 - Monte Nevado.

Salamanca takes the Bellota Ibérico category with Guillén's Jamón de Bellota 100% Ibérico.

The awards therefore highlight two distinct traditions within Spain's cured-ham sector rather than a single style of ham.

Serrano and Iberian are different categories

The two awards should not be treated as a direct head-to-head competition.

Jamón Serrano and Jamón de Bellota Ibérico are separate product categories with different production characteristics, classifications and eligibility requirements.

The competition therefore does not declare one of the two winners superior to the other.

Instead, each represents the winner of its respective national category.

What the 2026 result means

The result gives Castilla y León both of the national prizes awarded in the 2026 Alimentos de España competition for these ham categories.

For Segovia, the recognition goes to Jamones Segovia's Jamón Serrano 24.

For Salamanca, the award goes to Manuel Guillén's Jamón de Bellota 100% Ibérico.

Both results were established through the Ministry's official award process following a national competition and sensory evaluation.

A celebration of Spain's ham tradition

Spain's cured-ham industry covers a wide range of regional traditions and production methods.

The 2026 awards highlight two of those traditions through products from Castilla y León: long-cured Serrano ham from Segovia and 100% Iberian bellota ham from Salamanca.

The official result gives both producers national recognition while placing the two provinces firmly on this year's list of award-winning Spanish ham producers.

The awards will be presented later in the year

The Ministry has confirmed that the formal awards ceremony will take place in autumn.

The winning companies will also be eligible for preferential participation in promotional activities organised by the Alimentos de España programme.

For now, however, the official result is already established: Jamón Serrano 24 - Monte Nevado won the Serrano category, while Jamón de Bellota 100% Ibérico Guillén won the Bellota Ibérico category in the 2026 Alimentos de España awards.