• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

2

Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock

3

Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026

1

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

2

Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock

3

Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
LifestyleFood and drink
Europe

A Barcelona restaurant-NGO hybrid could offer a solution to the city’s over-tourism problem

Ryan Hogg
By
Ryan Hogg
Ryan Hogg
Europe News Reporter
Down Arrow Button Icon
Ryan Hogg
By
Ryan Hogg
Ryan Hogg
Europe News Reporter
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 12, 2025, 2:00 AM ET
Andres Torres cooks in Guatemala with a local family over an open flame.
Chef Andres Torres is fostering conscious tourism with his Barcelona-based restaurant-NGO hybrid.Global Humanitaria
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

When you save up for a meal at an acclaimed restaurant in a city far from your own, philanthropy and sustainability are likely far from your mind. For one Barcelona-based chef who has just scooped a major culinary humanitarian prize, this is a problem that needs fixing.

Andres Torres is a former war correspondent who has turned his experiences on the battlefield into an acclaimed restaurant. 

Nestled in the Catalan wine region of Penedés, Torres’s Casa Nova, where he is the head chef, serves high-level cuisine to customers while encouraging them to consider where their pricey food is coming from.

Torres scooped the prestigious Basque Culinary World Prize and its €100,000 ($108,000) reward last year. The prize is awarded to a restaurant that displays a wider socio-economic benefit from its endeavors outside the kitchen. 

The former war reporter splits his time between Casa Nova and running the NGO Global Humanitaria, a non-profit organization that mainly works in impoverished and war-torn countries to provide food and clean water sources to locals. 

It might seem incomprehensible that one person can run both a kitchen and an international humanitarian organization, but these ventures have a surprising level of crossover.

Torres’s Michelin Green Star restaurant drives a portion of its profits into Global Humanitaria. The food is inspired by places where Torres has reported and carried out humanitarian activities, including Guatemala, Syria, and Ukraine. 

Torres told Fortune through an interpreter that he learned how conflict impacted local food ecosystems while reporting on the ground. As a self-trained chef, he decided the best way to portray this to the public wasn’t through journalism, but by cooking in Casa Nova.

Amid existential questions surrounding the ills of tourism, Torres’ restaurant is an example of a concept that could create more conscious travelers.

Conscious tourism

Barcelona residents have been among the most restless at a resurgence in tourism across Europe, fueled by the “revenge travel” craze in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Besides the weather and architectural wonders of the famed architect Gaudi, food tourism is a big draw for visitors to Catalonia. 

The latter prompted locals to squirt unsuspecting dining tourists with water pistols in July while greeting them with chants of “go home” as they walked down Las Ramblas.

Reducing tourism to levels acceptable to locals is unrealistic for many reasons, not least its employment of millions of people and relatively open borders that invite curious travelers from across the world.

However, the ills of over-tourism persist, affecting locals’ quality of life and disposable income as a growing share of major cities’ accommodation goes towards short-term lets servicing travelers. 

Barcelona plans to ban Airbnb short-term lets from 2029 to free up housing supply for locals, though it’s uncertain what effect that will have on traveler numbers.

But with the dilemma between economic growth and placating frustrated locals, some cities are trying to find a compromise between starry-eyed tourists and frustrated locals.

Where Barcelona residents used the stick approach to reign in over-tourism, the Danish capital of Copenhagen is opting for the carrot. 

In July, Copenhagen introduced a CopenPay program, which rewards willing tourists with free museum trips, lunches, and even kayak tours if they perform community service. Fortune reported that a Surf School would provide free lessons to surfers if they helped clean beaches for 30 minutes. 

Within the complicated autonomous region of Catalonia, Torres’ restaurant is at the heart of that growing demand for conscious capitalism.

Torres has become popular with Gen Z visitors who have caught wind of his gastro-humanitarian activities, he told Fortune, even if they can’t always afford to eat there.

The real target, though, is high-net-worth individuals who are able to put their money where their mouth is. Several traveling foodies will come to Torres’ restaurant thanks to the positive reviews, but will often get caught up in conversation with the chef about the origin of their meals.

Torres says one unnamed wealthy diner made a donation to allow Torres to build a bunker for school children in Ukraine, taking cover from seemingly endless bombardment from Russia’s military operation. 

He says several other philanthropic diners will use the dinner to decide whether to support Torres’s humanitarian ventures.

He also recounted a recent experience where a table of Russian citizens and a separate table of Ukrainians could discuss the fallout of the conflict over dinner.

Torres thinks more restaurants in Europe need to focus on sustainability, explaining where their food is coming from and giving tourists an insight not just into the local ecosystem, but the global one too.

If this became the norm, hungry tourists might leave with more than a full stomach.

Editor’s note: A version of this article first appeared on Fortune.com on October 20, 2024.

About the Author
Ryan Hogg
By Ryan HoggEurope News Reporter

Ryan Hogg was a Europe business reporter at Fortune.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Lifestyle

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Lifestyle

Now she’s worth $200 million. But Sarah Jessica Parker says being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ growing up created her work ethic
SuccessCareer Advice
Now she’s worth $200 million. But Sarah Jessica Parker says being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ growing up created her work ethic
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 24, 2026
39 minutes ago
UPS workers process boxes in a sorting facility.
North AmericaUPS
UPS is shelling out nearly $50 million on temperature-controlled facilities to meet the booming demand for GLP-1 deliveries
By Sasha RogelbergJune 23, 2026
12 hours ago
dr
HealthCancer
The U.S. cut cancer deaths by 34% since 1991—but not in 458 rural counties
By Arthur Cosby and The ConversationJune 23, 2026
14 hours ago
Woman hides from the sun in front of Big Ben in London
EconomyEurope
‘London isn’t just calling—it’s cooking.’ Europe’s largest economies face over $600 billion in heat-driven losses by 2030
By Tristan BoveJune 23, 2026
14 hours ago
Doctor giving patient injection in volunteer clinic
HealthHealth
For the first time ever, no young women in England died of cervical cancer. In the U.S., RFK Jr.’s vaccine skepticism stalls HPV progress
By Catherina GioinoJune 23, 2026
15 hours ago
Matt Freese stopping a soccer ball entering the goal
SuccessCareers
Team USA’s goalkeeper passed on Manchester United, the club that helped shape David Beckham’s career, for Harvard—and has zero regrets
By Preston ForeJune 23, 2026
16 hours ago

Most Popular

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
Success
After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 23, 2026
19 hours ago
Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
Banking
Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
By Jim EdwardsJune 23, 2026
22 hours ago
Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 23, 2026
19 hours ago
Meet the 2 men putting New York's $300 billion pension fund in play for the first time in 20 years
Investing
Meet the 2 men putting New York's $300 billion pension fund in play for the first time in 20 years
By Nick LichtenbergJune 22, 2026
2 days ago
Former U.S. Secret Service agent says bringing your authentic self to work stifles teamwork: 'You don’t get high performers, you get sloppiness'
Success
Former U.S. Secret Service agent says bringing your authentic self to work stifles teamwork: 'You don’t get high performers, you get sloppiness'
By Sydney LakeJune 21, 2026
3 days ago
Texas and Charlotte used to build huge McMansions—now they're copying the California design tricks they once mocked
Real Estate
Texas and Charlotte used to build huge McMansions—now they're copying the California design tricks they once mocked
By Sydney LakeJune 22, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.