We tried the new Paella Caldoso and Croquetas de Jamón at Spain Global Marketplace 2026, plus some history and the full festival menu.

Regular readers know Spain has some ground to make up with us. Last year’s Paella Caldoso landed on our worst new food list, buried under rock shrimp, bay scallops, and enough smoked mussel flavor to make the whole bowl taste like one ingredient wearing a trench coat. We flagged the total 2026 makeover as one of the more interesting swaps of this year’s festival, and now that opening day has come and gone, we can finally tell you whether it worked. We also tried the new Croquetas de Jamón, and, well, we will get to that. Below is the full review of both dishes, plus the basics of visiting, a little history on why Spain has never actually had a real pavilion, and a rundown of the rest of this year’s menu.

The Spain Global Marketplace 2026 Basics

• Location: World Showcase, in the stretch between Germany and Italy
• Dates: Open for the full run of the 2026 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, August 27 through November 21
• Ordering: Walk-up counter service at the festival kiosk. There is no indoor seating attached to this booth, since there is, notably, no indoor anything attached to this booth
• Seating: Limited standing counters nearby. Your best bet is grabbing a spot along the World Showcase Lagoon and walking your food over
• Snack credits: Both the Croquetas de Jamón and the Paella Caldoso are eligible on the Disney Dining Plan
• Worth knowing: This is one of the smaller festival kiosks, tucked into a short stretch of World Showcase that does not get a lot of foot traffic compared to its neighbors, so lines here tend to move quickly even during peak hours

A Little Spain History (or the lack of it)

Here is the fun part. Unlike Mexico, Germany, or Italy on either side of it, Spain does not have an actual World Showcase pavilion, and never has. During Epcot’s planned Phase II expansion, when Imagineers were sketching a much bigger World Showcase, Spain was rumored as a full pavilion, complete with a restaurant serving tapas and sangria, a movie showcasing the country’s landmarks, and a dark ride built around Spanish traditions and culture. Supposedly, a Russia pavilion was on that same wish list, along with Israel and Switzerland. None of them made it past the drawing board.

So instead of a pyramid, a platz, or a Temple of Heaven replica, Spain gets a kiosk wedged into the gap between Germany and Italy, a stretch of World Showcase that could be described as the weakest section of the whole park. There is no ceremonial gate, no Circle-Vision theater, no glockenspiel chiming on the hour, just a counter, a menu board, and a country’s entire culinary reputation resting on a rotating cast of festival small plates. It is a little bit funny and a little bit sad, honestly, and we say that with real affection for paella.

Full Spain Global Marketplace 2026 Menu Overview

Here is everything else on the Spain festival menu this year, beyond the two dishes below.

Food

• Basque Cheesecake ($5.29), with orange sauce

Drinks

• Volver Quinta del ’67 Garnacha Tintorera from Alicante ($7.50)
• Bodegas Avancia Old Vines Godello from Valdeorras, new for 2026 ($8.50)
• Summer in Spain, frozen Simply Lemonade with herbal liqueurs ($13.00)

Spain Global Marketplace 2026 Review: Croquetas de Jamón

$6.99

Last year’s Trio de Pintxos gave us a croqueta with almost no discernible ham flavor, so a standalone Croqueta de Jamón in 2026 felt like a real chance for Spain to make amends. The good news is the shell fries up nicely, golden and properly crisp, the way a croqueta shell is supposed to behave. The filling is warm, creamy bechamel that holds together well enough to eat with your hands without staging a structural collapse.

The less exciting news is that this is, once again, a croqueta that seems mildly embarrassed to be named after ham. There is a shaving of Jamón Serrano perched on top, and if your bite happens to include a piece of it, you get a nice little hit of salty, cured pork flavor. If your bite does not include a piece of it, and given the ratio of ham shavings to croqueta surface area, plenty of bites will not, you are just eating warm, well fried mashed potato flavored cream with a name that promises something it does not consistently deliver. The saffron aïoli on the side is pleasant and does add a little more personality than the croqueta manages on its own.

This is not a bad dish. It is a perfectly fine, perfectly forgettable little fried thing that will not offend anyone and will not be the reason anyone remembers their day at Spain. Three small croquetas for $6.99 is a fair price for what amounts to a competent bar snack, nothing more, nothing less. If Spain is trying to prove last year’s ham flavor complaint was a fluke, this is a passing grade, not an A. Perhaps it will be better when the weather cools down.in

Spain Global Marketplace 2026 Review: Paella Caldoso

$7.99, a 30th Anniversary Legacy Item, originally introduced in 1997

Now for the redemption arc. Last year’s version of this dish leaned on rock shrimp, bay scallops, and smoked mussels, and the mussel flavor took over the entire bowl until it stopped tasting like paella and started tasting like the inside of a seashell. For 2026, Spain went back to the archives and pulled out the original 1997 recipe instead: chicken, chorizo, gigante beans, romano beans, and saffron rice. Not a single mussel anywhere in sight, and we checked twice out of pure suspicion.

We tried it on opening day, and it is genuinely better. The chorizo brings some smoky depth instead of relying on brine to do the heavy lifting. The chicken is tender without turning stringy. Also, the gigante and romano beans hold their shape and add texture instead of dissolving into mush the way beans can after sitting in a hot pot all day. Best of all, the saffron rice actually tastes like saffron, warm and slightly earthy, not just rice that got yelled at by a food coloring bottle.

The Soupy Issue is Gone

The soupy issue from last year is gone. However, the rice preparation was not up to standard. We also found the overall flavor fine, but nothing worth prioritizing during your day at Epcot. Is this better? Yes! Will it be anyone’s favorite dish at the 2026 Epcot Food & Wine Festival. We think not.

If dining at the Spain Global Marketplace, go for the Paella Caldso, and go in expecting good things. The Croquetas de Jamón will not ruin your day, but they won’t make it either. So, if your food budget is tight, spend it on a second helping of paella instead. Spain still does not have a pavilion of its own, but for one afternoon at least, it had a dish that got better. Of course, you could always skip the savory and get the Basque Cheesecake.

For more theme park dining reviews, visit MSM News every weekday at noon Eastern Time. Additionally, we sometimes post bonus theme park dining reviews. As always, eat like you mean it!

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