Michelin is killing the Green Star, and Cocina Hermanos Torres loses its badge with it

Michelin confirmed on 18 May 2026 that it's retiring the Green Star, the sustainability badge it launched in 2020. By the end of 2026, restaurants holding it can no longer market themselves as Green Star holders. The award sat separate from the conventional star ratings and recognised things like short supply chains, seasonal menus, foraging, on-site vegetable gardens, composting, reduced packaging, and lower non-renewable energy use.

In its place, Michelin is launching an editorial initiative called Mindful Voices, built to spotlight people proposing new methods in gastronomy, hospitality, and wine. The new format is editorial rather than evaluative, so there's no badge or rating behind it. That's the shift: from a structured distinction to a story-driven column.

The 2026 Spain edition, published earlier this year, had added five new Green Stars: Ama in Tolosa, Bakea in Mungia, Garena in Dima, Hika in Villabona, and Terraem in Port de Pollença. Four of those five were Basque. That brought Spain's total to 59. Every one of them loses the formal recognition by year-end.

In Barcelona, Cocina Hermanos Torres has been the city's most prominent Green Star holder. The three-Michelin-starred Les Corts restaurant run by twin chefs Sergio and Javier Torres was cited by the guide for its waste management work and its sourcing from local producers and fishing guilds. The full list of remaining Green Star restaurants across Catalonia stays up on the Michelin Guide's sustainable gastronomy page until the programme winds down.

For restaurants that built marketing around the Green Star, they'll have to tell the sustainability story through other channels now. Slow Food's Chefs' Alliance and Presidia framework, the kilómetro cero (KM0) movement, and individual restaurant-led transparency programmes all keep going independently of what Michelin does.