Elisabeth Reynés, Spain's Miss World 2026 Runner-Up: “I’m Dyslexic. I Know What It Feels Like to Doubt Yourself”

Elisabeth Reynés arrived in Vietnam as a young woman from Mallorca with a dream and left as the first runner-up in Miss World 2026, Miss World Europe and the winner of Beauty With a Purpose Europe.

Her strongest message came through the project behind that last award, a children's book called “The Rhythm of Letters.” Reynés created the book from her own experience with dyslexia, a learning disorder that can make reading difficult by affecting how people identify speech sounds and connect them with letters and words.

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I’m dyslexic. I know what it feels like to struggle, to doubt yourself and to wonder why something that seems so easy for others can be so difficult for you

The book carries a simple message: “not everyone learns the same way, and that's okay.” Reynés said she wanted every child to understand that learning differently never means being less capable. The project earned recognition in the pageant's Beauty With a Purpose competition, which highlights social initiatives.

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not everyone learns the same way, and that's okay

Reynés said the award had special meaning because dyslexia is not merely a cause she chose to support. It is part of her life. “I’m dyslexic. I know what it feels like to struggle, to doubt yourself and to wonder why something that seems so easy for others can be so difficult for you,” she wrote on Instagram.

She also reflected on her experience in Vietnam, saying she had arrived simply as Elisabeth, a girl from Mallorca with a dream, comfortable shoes and a purpose close to her heart. She said she was leaving with the feeling that audiences had seen the real person behind the contestant.

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I arrived in Vietnam simply as Elisabeth: a girl from Mallorca with a dream, my sneakers always close at hand and a purpose very close to my heart

Reynés, 22, said she had never needed to be the loudest person in the room. She wanted to remain herself, simple, emotional at times, always smiling and faithful to who she was. She also thanked the International Dyslexia and Family Organization as the message of her book reached a wider audience.

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I have never needed to be the person who makes the most noise in the room. I only wanted to be myself: simple, a little crazy, sometimes emotional, always smiling, and always true to who I am