diff --git a/SECURITY.md b/SECURITY.md
index 752d6318a..49cafdf9e 100644
--- a/SECURITY.md
+++ b/SECURITY.md
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 
 | Version | Supported          |
 | ------- | ------------------ |
-| 2.15.x     | :white_check_mark: |
-| < 2.15.x   | :x:                |
+| 2.16.x     | :white_check_mark: |
+| < 2.16.x   | :x:                |
 
 ## Reporting a Vulnerability
 
diff --git a/docs/news.rst b/docs/news.rst
index 429ea09bf..16aa02b25 100644
--- a/docs/news.rst
+++ b/docs/news.rst
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Release notes
 
 .. _release-2.16.0:
 
-Scrapy 2.16.0 (unreleased)
+Scrapy 2.16.0 (2026-05-19)
 --------------------------
 
 Highlights:
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 2f07dcd80..888f95574 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ module = [
 ignore_missing_imports = true
 
 [tool.bumpversion]
-current_version = "2.15.2"
+current_version = "2.16.0"
 commit = true
 tag = true
 tag_name = "{new_version}"
diff --git a/scrapy/VERSION b/scrapy/VERSION
index 07d875c2d..752490696 100644
--- a/scrapy/VERSION
+++ b/scrapy/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2.15.2
+2.16.0