Opening a bar in Barcelona

For many foreigners looking to settle long-term in Barcelona, the thought of opening a bar or restaurant is an enticing one. A successful bar can provide an important feeling of fulfilment and sense of stability that foreigners may lack here as they often find themselves drifting in dead-end jobs with few long-term career prospects. In a city blessed with the perfect climate for a thriving cafe culture and a year-long stream of free-spending tourists, it is easy to see why Barcelona is saturated with over 12,000 bars and restaurants, according to ajuntament figures. The good news is that, despite the plethora -especially in areas such as the Born and Gràcia-it is rare to see a place empty at the weekends. Demand is so great, in fact, that authorities in Gràcia have refused to issue any more licences-partly as an attempt to control noise pollution in the area. The bad news is that the competition is obviously intense, the hours long and finding funding can be almost impossible.

However, this didn’t deter Australians Sophie Ruggles and Michael Kessler who opened the Emu bar in Gràcia this June. After living in Barcelona for eight years during the Nineties, they have returned to achieve a lifetime’s ambition after a brief stint back in their homeland. “As a chef and food-writer, it was a dream-come-true for me,” explained Ruggles. “Obviously, Asian food is very popular in Australia and we thought it was something sadly lacking in Barcelona-especially Thai dishes-so we decided to come back and give it a shot.” They have not only distinguished their bar with delicious dishes such as Thai beef and chicken curry, but also with unusual decor features such as emu egg lamps and tables made out of washing machine drums. They found the legendary Spanish bureaucracy far less intimidating than they expected. Kessler, who has a separate career as a journalist writing for a number of overseas newspapers and magazines [he is also a Metropolitan contributor], was surprised by the ease of the paperwork. “We privately financed it and hired a gestor to take care of the paperwork, and within three months the bar was open. It was just a case of signing the derelict bar and licence into our name, but in Australia the same process would have taken ages.”

However, the road was nowhere near as easy for Abbie Patrick who opened Squeez bar in the barri gòtic area a year-and-a-half ago, with her partner Thierry Meinart. “It took me two years to open,” she said. “The financing was an absolute nightmare, and in the end I had to do it all alone because the banks were very black and white-not really open to new business start-ups because they just look at you as a huge risk.” Unlike the Kesslers, she also found herself let-down by various people. Her advice for potential bar owners: “Get yourself a good lawyer and be very wary of dodgy landlords. “Dealing with the Ajuntamiento was slow going, and both the commitment and standards of work from the suppliers and engineers was poor, especially in August.” For British expats, opening a pub is the obvious option although for Mairead Ryan, who runs the newly opened Ryans Irish pub in Carrer Ample, the road has been equally rough. “It took well over a year before we opened the doors, largely because we were let down by the local carpenters who missed all the deadlines due to an ongoing dispute with their boss.”.

With the main target for pubs being British tourists, the most advantageous positions are obviously around the Rambla such as Flaherty’s and The Shamrock. Those further out of town have compensated by offering something a bit different. For example, the newly opened Dubliner in Gracia’s Carrer Ros de Olano doubles up as the Irish Cultural association, which hosts book reading evenings and language intercambios. The Philharmonic Pub in Carrer Mallorca has been open for six years and gradually established itself as a favourite for both guiris and locals. “We have line-dancing on Monday nights and a pub quiz plus raffle on Thursday which attracts a nice mix of ex-pats and locals,” said owner Jackie Musson. “We also offer roast dinners and have recently installed a big screen.” She offers some words of warning for potential bar owners: “Premises that are likely to have conflictive neighbours should be avoided at all costs.” They can be the death of a business, she explained. Noisy customers leaving late, musical activities and smoke extractors for kitchens are all causes of conflict and often result in loss of licences. It is often better to get premises with existing licenses and then adapt them to your requirements, rather than risk an expensive investment.

Another important consideration is accessibility-it’s better to be near a metro or bus stop if you are out of town. Perhaps the biggest problem Musson has encountered is finding the right staff. “It’s difficult to find people who are sticking around and who you can trust. We’ve had a few particularly upsetting incidents with staff we trusted, and it makes you more cynical about who you employ.” This highlights the importance of treating your employees well. One young foreigner, who wished to remain anonymous, said her experiences serving in an Irish bar were terrible. “The boss was lecherous and treated the staff atrociously. I had to serve the whole day without a lunch break, no one had a contract and we were all paid in black money. The whole thing was totally illegal and I’ve since heard of many others who have just walked out of the place.” So if you’re still not put off by the dream, what practical steps do need to be taken? Presuming you already have a Spanish tax number (NIE), you can approach the Ajuntament-owned Barcelona Activa with a business proposal. Activa advises people on the practicalities involved and will assess your plan, although they do not offer a specific programme for potential bar owners. They currently deal with about 1,500 business proposals of all types annually, which have a survival rate of around 85 percent. Obviously, the next step is to find yourself a property. This can either be done through the various real estate agencies in the city, or through the classifieds section in local newspapers and magazines. There are also a handful of specialist bar-letting agencies such as Fiesta Property Services or Virtualpubs.com, although these are mainly aimed at British expats looking to buy a bar on the Costas. Be warned that financing can be tricky. If you haven’t got private capital to invest, the banks are likely to be reluctant unless you can provide a guarantor. Note that prices are sky high around the centre and the Born, and considerably less in areas such as Gràcia.

As regards the all-important publicity, it seems good old-fashioned word-of-mouth is still an effective method of promotion. “The best advertising has been by word of mouth and this has proved very effective, said Sophie Ruggles of the Emu bar. “The locals spend quite a bit of time weighing you up, but they have been very welcoming of something a bit different.” One last word. If you are going to be a hands-on part of the business, financial reward alone should not be the main motivating factor. Ruggles summed up: “You’ve got to be there for more reasons than just money, because warmth and atmosphere are integral to any good venue.”

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