Mejor Queso Canarias 2026: A gofio-rubbed goat cheese from the south wins it all

Every year, the official Agrocanarias competition puts hundreds of cheeses from across the archipelago through a rigorous blind tasting. Winning the top prize is a big deal — and in 2026, the honour goes to a cheese that feels deeply rooted in Canarian tradition. Quesos La Gloria, a third-generation family operation in the south of Gran Canaria, impressed the expert panel with a raw-milk semi-cured goat cheese that is gently rubbed with gofio, the toasted grain flour that has been a staple of the islands for centuries.

The competition is organised by the Canary Islands Government through the Instituto Canario de Calidad Agroalimentaria (ICCA). It is the highest official recognition a Canarian cheese can receive, judged entirely blind by a panel of specialists who evaluate texture, aroma, flavour and appearance. This year, the winning entry stood out among dozens of dairies from all seven islands.

A family story three generations deep

Behind the winning cheese are José Miguel Ortega Suárez and Paqui (Francisca Olga) Pérez Navarro, the couple who run Quesos La Gloria. They are the third generation of livestock farmers on this land, working a herd of around 2,500 goats in the area known as Altos de La Gloria, in the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana. The farm and cheese-making facility sit on a historic estate linked to the family of the Condado de la Vega Grande, and the operation has quietly grown into one of the most awarded cheese brands in the Canary Islands.

The winning cheese itself is a specific creation: a semi-cured goat cheese made from raw milk, with the exterior lovingly rubbed with gofio. This is not their famous cured cheese — which has already won Super Gold at the World Cheese Awards — but a softer, more approachable sibling that carries the unmistakable nutty, toasted notes of gofio on the rind. It is a cheese that tastes of the Canary Islands in every bite.

Where to find the winning cheese

If you are on the island and want to taste this award-winner for yourself, you have two solid options. The first is to head straight to the source: the Quesos La Gloria farm and dairy in La Gloria, San Agustín. You can reach it by following the road up from the San Agustín Shopping Centre, past the Gloria Palace hotel, and into the hills. It is a working farm, and visiting gives you a genuine glimpse into the craft behind the cheese.

The second option is their shop in Vecindario, in the neighbouring municipality of Santa Lucía de Tirajana. You will find it at Calle Acusa 55, where it also operates as a café serving breakfasts and tastings of their artisan products. The phone number for the shop is 928 49 72 51. Some of their cheeses, particularly the cured goat variety, are also available through specialist online retailers, though the exact semi-cured gofio version may be easier to find in person on the island.

Canarian cheese is having a moment

The win for La Gloria is not an isolated success. Canarian cheeses, especially those made from goat milk, are enjoying a wave of recognition both nationally and internationally. At the Cincho Cheese Awards 2026, five Canarian cheeses took home four golds and one silver across categories including raw goat, mixed milk, and sheep. Dairies from Gran Canaria, La Palma, and Fuerteventura all featured prominently. Meanwhile, at the World Cheese Awards, a goat and sheep cheese from Finca de Uga in Lanzarote was named the best Canarian cheese in that international competition.

In the Agrocanarias competition itself, the 2025 title went to El Minero, a raw goat cheese with an ash coating and Penicillium candidum from Granja Ara in Tenerife. The 2026 edition, beyond crowning La Gloria, also awarded multiple Grand Gold Medals to dairies from La Palma, including several under the Queso Palmero DOP. Gran Canaria's own cheese scene is equally vibrant, with dairies like Arquegran Agüimes, Era del Cardón, and Quesería Guedes all earning national accolades in recent years. The island's official Cheese Route now connects artisan producers across municipalities from Tejeda to Gáldar, Moya to Santa Lucía, reflecting a deep and diverse cheese-making culture.

Why this cheese matters

What makes the La Gloria win so resonant is how it ties together so many threads of Canarian identity. Raw goat milk is the foundation of the islands' most distinctive cheeses, prized for the character it carries from the local terrain and the native goat breeds. Semi-cured strikes a beautiful balance — firmer than fresh cheese, but still creamy and expressive, without the intensity of a long-aged curado. And then there is the gofio. Rubbing the cheese with gofio is not just decorative; it adds a gentle, toasty bitterness that plays against the natural sweetness of the goat milk, and it connects the cheese directly to the pre-Hispanic food culture of the Canary Islands. This is not a cheese trying to be French or Italian. It is proudly, unmistakably Canarian.