Artisan cheese fair in Spain’s Malaga declared festival of tourist singularity

EVERY first weekend in October, the village of Teba—in the heart of the quiet Guadalteba region, in the province of Malaga—celebrates one of the most important cheese fairs in the national culinary scene.

And this year the artisan cheese fair marks its twentieth edition, and does so by being declared a festival of provincial tourist singularity.

The event, which recreates the traditional cheese market and attracts around 50 artisan cheesemakers from all over Spain, especially Andalucia, is expected to bring together more than 20,000 visitors to the town, multiplying the town’s population of 4000 inhabitants by five.

The fair has become nationally recognised as one of the most important fairs in the industry where the best Andalucian cheeses can be tasted and purchased, including the most important designations of origin of the peninsula – such as Idiazábal, Manchego, Tetilla, cakes of the Serena and Casar, Gamoneu or Mahon – and, of course, the Malaga cheeses Sabor a Málaga.

The individualised elaboration of each artisan cheese means that none of them is the same as another and that each one has its own identity and essence.

In addition to cheeses, typical local gastronomic products such as sausages, honey, wines and pastries will also be available at the market.

As every year, the Best Artisan Cheese Award will be held, where a jury of experts will award the best cheeses in six different categories (semi-cured goat, cured goat, raw goat milk, sheep milk and goat and sheep milk mixtures) as well as a wide range of recreational and cultural activities.

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