Castle of the Knights of St. John, Rhodes City, Rhodes Island, South Aegean, Greece
Entrants
22
Placements
7
Withdrawals
Portugal & Turkey
Returns
Denmark, Iceland, Scotland, Wales & Yugoslavia
Winner
Riitta Inkeri Väisänen Finland
Photogenic
Mary Kirkwood Scotland
Miss Elegance
Mary Kirkwood Scotland
← 1974
1978 →
Miss Europe 1976 was the 38th edition of the Miss Europe pageant and the 27th edition under the Mondial Events Organization. It was held at the Castle of the Knights of St. John in Rhodes City, Rhodes Island, South Aegean, Greece on 5 June 1976. Riitta Inkeri Väisänen of Finland, was crowned Miss Europe 1976 by outgoing titleholder Maria Isabel "Maribel" Lorenzo Saavedra of Spain.[1] The 1976 contest was held two years after the previous one instead of one year due to the 1975 contest being cancelled. The 1975 contest was originally scheduled to take place in Beirut, Lebanon but was cancelled due to the Lebanese Civil War.
From 1951 to 2002 there was a rival Miss Europe competition organized by the "Comité Officiel et International Miss Europe". This was founded in 1950 by Jean Raibaut in Paris, the headquarters later moved to Marseille. The winners wore different titles like Miss Europe, Miss Europa or Miss Europe International.
This year, the contest took place at the Luna Park de Ricard in Andorra la Vella, Andorra in May 1976. There 23 contestants all representing different countries and regions of Europe. At the end, Maria Teresa Maldonado Valle of Spain was crowned as Miss Europa 1976. She succeeded predecessor Vivianne Van der Cauter of Belgium.[4]