Twenty candidates will compete for the Miss Ecuador 2026 title on August 29 along the boardwalk of Salinas in Santa Elena province. The winner will succeed reigning titleholder Gisselle Rosales and receive the national crown.
Organizers will also select five other finalists during the ceremony. Those five contestants will earn opportunities to represent Ecuador at international pageants, including Miss Hispanoamérica, Miss Cosmo, Miss Charm, and Reina Internacional del Café.
Television presenters Claudia Schiess and Carlos Luis Andrade will host the event. Viewers can watch the live broadcast on GamaTV, Vito TVO, and the official Miss Ecuador YouTube channel.
International Pageant Links and Franchise Separation
Reigning Miss International 2025 Catalina Duque Abréu will attend the gala as a special guest. Duque Abréu won her title in Tokyo, Japan, in November 2025 during a competition that gathered delegates from more than 70 countries.
The national event is organized by the Miss Ecuador Organization under the direction of María del Carmen de Aguayo. The competition operates independently from Miss Universo Ecuador following a separation of pageant franchises.
Under the franchise arrangement, CNB Ecuador organizes Miss Universo Ecuador to choose the national candidate for Miss Universe. The Miss Ecuador Organization maintains its own selection system, with Miss International serving as one of its primary global destinations. The winner of the Salinas contest will advance to the same international competition won by Duque Abréu.
Salinas, a coastal resort city in south-western Ecuador, hosts the gala along its beachfront promenade, bringing the annual national competition to Santa Elena province.
The 2026 Miss Ecuador Candidates
Twenty contestants representing cities across Ecuador and overseas diaspora communities are competing for the crown:
- Giada Pozzallo de la Torre, 18, representing Guayaquil
- Andrea Delgado Pico, 18, representing Salinas
- Carolina Goncalves Sarmiento, 19, representing Cuenca
- Nadia Larco Bravo, 23, representing Manta and the Ecuadorian community in Los Angeles
- Ivanna Nicola Salazar, 23, representing Guayaquil
- Natalia Medrano Saldarriaga, 22, representing Quito
- Xiomara Valencia Quintero, 19, representing Atacames
- Bárbara Navarro Arce, 24, representing Riobamba
- Wendy Sarmiento Castillo, 25, representing Loja
- Stefany Intriago Loor, 19, representing Santo Domingo
- Nicole Olvera Montalván, 26, representing Guayaquil
- Adamaris Ortiz Contreras, 21, representing Urdaneta
- Nairobi Espinoza Chuqui, 19, representing Vinces
- Emily Castillo Vallejo, 21, representing Esmeraldas
- Nicole Roldán Vera, 20, representing Machala
- Melany Murillo Alfonso, 23, representing Naranjal
- Kimoy García Pillasagua, 24, representing Guayaquil
- Marie Rincón Govea, 23, representing Manta
- Alison Franco Villagómez, 21, representing Babahoyo
- Angélica Betancourt Luzuriaga, 19, representing the Ecuadorian community residing in Italy
