Athenea Pe´rez, representing Murcia, was crowned Miss Universe Spain 2023 at the finale of the national pageant held on Saturday, 1st July 2023 at the Los Olivos Beach Resort in Costa Adeje, Tenerife. Athenea will now prepare to represent her country at Miss Universe 2023.

Athenea Pe´rez bested 16 other competitors to win the crown. She is 27 years of age and a model with a double degree in marketing and advertising. Not a stranger to pageantry, Athenea tried to give it a go in 2019 at Miss Universe Spain and placed first runner-up to Natalie Ortega. She was also a part of Miss World Spain at the age of 17. The newly crowned queen’s court included –

1st Runner-up – Carolina Espeso Jerez of Canarias

2nd Runner-up – Julia Rodrigo of Comunidad Valenciana

On winning the national crown, Athenea took to her official social media as she wrote, “At the age of 17, I presented myself to Miss World Spain. I didn't qualify, but I knew that one day I would achieve something big. Yesterday, 10 years later, I was crowned Miss Universe Spain 2023. Life makes it clear to me that dreams do come true. That what is for you will come. That if you put your heart into something, it will come true. I have no words, I still can't assimilate it. My heart explodes. Thanks to my people, my supporters and all the pageant pages who trusted me from the beginning. Together we will do something great. Together we will go for the next crown.”

Top 5 finalists also included Paula Villalobos of Extremadura and Mariana Mujica of Comunidad de Madrid while Top 10 also included Laura Mederos of Andalucia, Helena Sanchez of Asturias, Yolanda Francisco of Cantabria, Nicka Ruiz of La Rioja, and Nerea Caccho of Navarra.

Athenea Pe´rez succeeds and was crowned by Miss Universe Spain 2022 Alicia Faubel who represented Spain at Miss Universe 2022 and placed in the Top 16. The finale was hosted by Sarah Loinaz Miss Universe Spain 2021 along with Victor Santiago, a Puerto Rican singer and a co-host on Telemundo Puerto Rico.