The 52 hopefuls for the title of Miss Spain were officially presented today before they leave for the Riviera Maya in Mexico on Monday, where one of them will be crowned the most beautiful woman in Spain for 2009.

The ceremony was held in the Puerta America hotel in Madrid and was also attended by the Mexican ambassador, Jorge Zermeño, the vice-president of Travelplan, Luis Mata, journalist and competition judge, Javier de Montini and last year's winner, Patricia Rodriguez, who will hand over her crown on July 18th.

This is the first year that the Miss Spain competition will be held outside the country and Andrés Cid, the president of the competition, said that the worldwide economic situation had made them move the frontiers and added that it was highly likely that future editions of the competition would be held in other world destinations.

The Mexican ambassador was delighted that his country had been chosen to host the competition and hoped that it would 'reinforce the historical, cultural and linguistic links that the two countries share.'  He was confident that the Mexican people would welcome the contest with 'characteristic warmth' and that his country would provide an idyllic backdrop for the contest.

The ambassador said was pleased that his country had the opportunity "to promote as a tourist destination on the worldwide stage", especially in view of recent events (referring to the recent swine flu epidemic).

Javier de Montini, told the candidates, who represent each of Spain's 52 provinces, to 'relax' and be themselves, adding that the way they expressed themselves would be taken into account as well as their physical beauty.

Miss Spain 2008, Patricia Rodriguez, told them all just 'to enjoy the experience' and added that her reign had been 'marvellous' and that the title had enabled her to 'travel, become a more rounded person and make a lot of important contacts'.

The gala will take place at the Hotel Oasis in Cancún on July 18th.  The winner will then go on from Mexico to Nassau in the Bahamas to compete in the Miss Universe contest on August 1st and 2nd.