"¡Qué rico!".
On the 12th (local time), exclamations burst out from Spanish buyers who tasted Korean food at K Expo Spain 2026, held at the MEEU exhibition space in Chamartín, Madrid. ¡Qué rico is a Spanish exclamation meaning "really delicious" or "really good."
About 100 domestic corporations set up booths at MEEU that day. These corporations were recognized by local governments such as Incheon City, North Gyeongsang Province, South Jeolla Province, and Geumsan County in South Chungcheong, as well as the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, for their potential to enter Spain. Most were K-food representative food and beverages, cosmetics, and medical devices, making up K-beauty brands.
Spanish buyers and visitors kept coming to experience Korean food and cosmetics that are not easy to encounter in everyday life. Those who looked at Korea's food and beverages with curious eyes kept voicing admiration after experiencing K-food in their mouths.
A local visitor who took a mouthful of yujacha opened wide and said, "¡Muy rico! (really delicious)." A local visitor who tasted fruit-flavored soju with 16% alcohol also said, "Me gusta mucho (I like it very much)." Young-faced visitors who kept smiling while tasting various kinds of gim snacks also stood out.
An official from Korea Apples, a traditional liquor manufacturer participating through North Gyeongsang Province, said, "Fruit-flavored soju is not very popular domestically, but the response in Europe is not bad," adding, "At this event, a Polish buyer showed interest." Park Yun-guk, head of Seogwang Food Farming Association Corporation, a South Jeolla Province participant, said, "Locals and buyers show a lot of interest in yujacha they are tasting for the first time," adding, "The reactions after drinking it themselves are also good."
An experience where visitors could make Korea's spiciness themselves was also popular. A booth where people could stir ingredients in a round container with wooden chopsticks to make gochujang was packed. Some even poured red pepper powder into the container, saying they wanted to feel a spicier taste.
The reason domestic small and midsize corporations were able to open booths in Madrid, Spain, about 10,000 kilometers from Korea, was the result of overseas Korean businesspeople joining forces. The European Federation of Korean Business Associations hosted the event, and World OKTA (World Federation of Overseas Korean Traders Associations), the largest overseas Korean business organization in Korea, provided support.
World OKTA included K Expo Spain in the program of the Europe-Eurasia Regional Businesspeople's Conference being held in Madrid through the 14th. The aim is to explore overseas market entry strategies with members running enterprises around the world, while also serving as a bridgehead to help domestic small and midsize corporations develop export channels. Dozens of World OKTA members visited preselected small and midsize corporation booths that day for consultations.
World OKTA Chairman Park Jong-bum said, "This expo is meaningful in that overseas Korean businesspeople in Korea, including World OKTA and the European Federation, joined forces to carry it out," adding, "We will faithfully serve as an export platform for Korean corporations to enter the European and Latin American markets."