The most-respected global bars ranking heads to the Spanish capital as it continues to showcase the greatest cocktail destinations around the world.

The annual list of The World’s 50 Best Bars, sponsored by Perrier, will be unveiled as part of a live awards ceremony in Madrid, Spain on Tuesday, 22nd October 2024.

Now in its 16th edition, the bar industry’s most prestigious ranking continues its mission to showcase the planet’s finest cocktail cities and will unite the global bar community in Madrid to recognise the achievements of the best bars in the world. The Spanish capital will play host to the pioneering bartenders, bar owners and brands that have led the charge in shaping cocktail culture around the world in 2024.

The list of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2024 will be anonymously voted for by a gender balanced Academy of more than 700 bartenders, consultants, writers and cocktail specialists from around the world, with the results independently adjudicated by Deloitte. Details of the voting process can be found at the bottom of this press release.

Emma Sleight, Head of Content for The World’s 50 Best Bars, says: “We are delighted to bring The World’s 50 Best Bars 2024 to the vibrant streets of Madrid, a city long renowned for its outstanding hospitality. We look forward to gathering this incredible community together once more to honour the innovation, creativity, and unparalleled achievements of the world’s most exceptional mixology and to ignite the curiosity of cocktail lovers around the globe.”

Highlights for the event programme in Madrid will include the Bartenders’ Feast, hosted the evening before the ceremony for those talented individuals whose bars feature in this year’s ranking. The hotly anticipated list of The World’s 50 Best Bars will be unveiled at a grand ceremony on Tuesday, 22nd October, with red-carpet arrivals and a drinks reception in advance of the live countdown and reveal of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2024, including the much sought after title of The World’s Best Bar, sponsored by Perrier.

Ahead of the awards ceremony, 50 Best will reveal the winners of two special awards designed to celebrate the exceptional achievements of one bar and one bartender over the past year, as well as those venues ranked in the extended 51-100 list:

• Michter’s Art of Hospitality. This award is voted for by all members of The World’s 50 Best Bars Academy, who are asked to name the bar where they received the single best hospitality experience during the voting period
• Altos Bartenders’ Bartender. This award is voted for by the bartenders behind those bars on this year’s list, who are asked to name one peer who has done more to further the craft of bartending than any other across the course of the 18-month voting period
• 51-100 list. 50 Best will reveal those bars ranked between 51st and 100th across its website and social media channels

Over the next few months, bars and bartenders from around the world, whether they feature in the list of The World’s 50 Best Bars or not, will also be invited to nominate themselves for three additional special awards, the winners of which will be announced at the ceremony in Madrid:

• 50 Best Bars Roku Scholarship 2024. One trailblazing young bartender will be given the incredible opportunity to expand their horizons with unique stages (internships) at two bars on the list of The World’s 50 Best Bars
• Bareksten Best Bar Design Award. Judged by an esteemed panel of hospitality design experts, bars from anywhere in the world are invited to submit their venue design for consideration
• Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award. Bars from around the world are invited to submit their current cocktail menu to showcase their innovation, creativity and identity

Further details on how to enter these special awards will be announced in due course.

The countdown of the list of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2024, sponsored by Perrier, will also be broadcast live to a global audience. Bar and cocktail lovers are invited to join through The World’s 50 Best Bars Facebook page and 50 Best Bars TV channel on YouTube.