The main purpose of this work is to understand the process of instrumentalization of gastronomic culture as a tool of the cultural paradiplomacy in Catalonia, between 2012 and 2016. Hence, the research is committed to analyzing in depth the forms of what is conceptualized here as “gastro-paradiplomacy”, that is, the implementation of external action exercises by a sub-national unit through gastronomy. In particular, emphasis is placed on the campaign for Catalan gastronomy to be recognized by UNESCO as intangible heritage of humanity (2012-2014) and on the project for Catalonia to be recognized by the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture and Arts (IGCAT) with the award for European Gastronomic Region (2016). These two “devices” were analyzed in the light of a long-term history, where it is argued that Catalan foreign action through gastronomy was developed within the framework of a process in which informal practices of international projection were consolidated and legitimizing in time. Thus, the dissertation reflects two fronts of international studies: on the one hand, in the place of culture, particularly that related to gastronomy, in international relations and, on the other, in the place of foreign action subnational units and the conflicts that this raises.
