Lovely!!!

I've just caught this thread and wish to add my own experiences as I have run a bar in Spain, sadly no longer as the crisis takes its toll. Bars are closing each and every day as they battle for an ever-decreasing clientele, both holidaymaker and expat, both of which continue to dwindle in number, despite optimistic forecasts for a small recovery. In the last few months of our bar, trade dropped by a staggering 65% on the previous year with expat regulars specifically watching their pennies as the pound collapsed against the Euro. By the time the doors were finally closed, we had not been able to pay ourselves properly for over six months and had been forced to buy stock as and when we could afford to do so rather than to demand. Our clientele was loyal but just wasn't spending enough in the bar anymore.

As you have acknowledged above, running a bar is bloody hard work and you could expect to working long hours seven days a week without little spare time to enjoy to lifestyle in which your customers seem to take delight (and that can be soul-destroying). Regardless of the opening times, we were working 17 hours a day or some 120 hours a week - for no financial reward whatsoever - in the hope that one day things would improve significantly enough to allow us to enjoy our life in the sunshine. We knew that we wouldn't take much profit in the first 18-24 months, no bar does in Spain, and we knew it would be hard work and expected to have to tighten purse strings for a while. But we didn't expect the economic stability of Europe to collapse so dramatically and the repercussions to be felt so quickly on the Costas. Much like an oncoming tidal wave, we had little time to react and was swept away in the detritus, never to recover. The bar closed last November, the keys handed back to the landlord and the property has remained empty ever since.

Would we do it again? Probably - and with our eyes very much wide open to our experiences and the possible pitfalls. If anything positive can be derived from the current economic woe, it is that the crisis is separating the wheat from the chaff, the good venues (which do continue to trade well) from the bad (those bars with little diverse to offer the customer). Whether now is the time to consider opening a new venue is entirely at the risk of the owner; those that offer something a bit special might just survive to see out the recession; those that offer nothing different to the rows and rows of 'Brit Bars' clogging the arteries of the Costa towns might as well chuck their cash down the nearest drain.

Good luck and trust your own judgement rather than others because it might just work. But in all honesty 40K is not nearly enough to do so ...

John C

Excellent post mate, sorry to hear of the demise of your bar though, good luck in the future.

me

and i'd like to back up everything xabiero said, we have a very similar story to tell. I wouldnt recommend anyone doing it in the current climate, and very few at any other time lol

Well, we're lucky enough to be well-established in Spain, both of us speak the language fluently and therefore have been able to find other sources of income so the story doesn't quite end in the tragedy of others that I know have been forced to leave the country and return to the UK in search of work because the can't speak Spanish. However nothing quite beats the thrill of working for yourself and one day, perhaps in a couple of years or so, we might find the encouragement to return to the business. The bar worked well for almost two years but in the final six or so months we couldn't quite make ends meet once the crisis really established itself on the Costa and decided it better to bail out with little liability rather than accrue crippling debt that would definately have destroyed us. There are some signs of recovery, albeit barely noticeable to most people, with some colleagues reporting a slight increase in trade. However it should be noted that every single one of these are well-established bars, in most cases in business for more than 10-15 years with a decent regular clientele, and they may well ride out the crisis relatively unscathed on the strength of that local custom.

Another point that should be noted - and an obvious one at that - is that the ability to speak the language is, in my opinion, an absolute must for a successful business in Spain at the moment. It seems that expats are leaving in droves and the perceived 'cash cow' of their business is dwindling day by day. The ability to continue to provide a service for the local community is essential; our dream might have been put on temporary hold but at least we have been able to drop into another avenue of business to remain in Spain and not resort to fleeing back to the UK (neither of us have gone back for more than six years and we have no intention of doing so!). In fact, our way of life has actually improved because we are now being regularly paid! And that is down to the fact that we can speak the lingo.

Yes, there is sun, sea and, if the missus is accomodating, a bit of the other. But it ain't all blue skies and sunshine ...

John C

It's a fact that the spanish won't use British bars. It is also a fact that British tourists are thin on the ground and that there are too many British bars, Go anywhere on the coast right now and the majority of visitors are spanish and according to the media they aren't spending either. Doesn't matter how good your spanish is you won't make it. Nearly everyone I know who hasn't retired seems to be living hand to mouth. Property sales and rentals, painting, taxi runs, anything to get money, wouldn't be my choice of a life!

Afraid not!
The English bars in Oliva I notice are often stuffed full of Spaniards. Often wondered why, but they are

Two for the price of one? mabe.

Sorry, but that's not true at all! In our case, our bar was never aimed at the British market specifically (it didn't even have an 'English' name) and we attracted just as many Spanish (and other nationalities) as we did British, a truly international bar. But I know many well-established so-called 'Brit Bars' which have a very healthy Spanish clientele who are quite possibly keeping these bars afloat.

Don't believe the media either. From my experience just in the past fortnight the Spanish visitors ARE spending money, it's the Brits who aren't. The difference is that the Spanish are being more selective when they spend. Well-established bars, restaurants, shops and other businesses are doing surprisingly well. Those businesses aimed specifically at the expat market and unwilling or unable to diversify are not. This is where the language ability comes to the fore.

There are indeed many people living a hand-to-mouth existence and in my experience they are the people who fail to integrate into the local community. With the expat population dwindling, this potential market is shrinking rapidly and these people need to expand their horizons. It can still work here in Spain. It just needs a little bit of effort.

I've often seen many Spaniards at the E1.99 English breakfast places in Fuengirola. I'm sure they cant believe the price!

On a nastier hand I went to the "English" bars and clubs in Fuengirola last week with some Spanish and English friends and the bouncers wouldnt let the Spanish people in saying they had to pay 10 euros when the English friends walked straight in for free ... a disgrace

I know a Spanish owned bar on the front on the South beach that is called, I think, the Red Lion or something like that. Its frequented by English and Spanish alike all the time

We eat at a Spanish/English owned bar in Fuengirola and one night had to explain what Rhubarb crumble was to some people from Madrid.
Quite a lot of Spanish use the bar all times of the year.

The Coach & Horses, thats it, I remembered

One of the main problems with British bars, is the huge menu on offer. The range is from marmalade on toast right through the range of the liver and onions, pies, basked spuds, fish and chips, curries, steaks, toasties and all day breakfasts.
Most of these places only have a kitchen the size of a phonebox.
To ride out the storm waste and expenses have to be cut to a minimum, so it would make sense to reduce the menu.
Give a limited, but good quality choice for customers.
We have visited restaurants all over Spain that have limited meuns, in Cedeira (galicia) there is a place that does this. You can have fried squid and a few other chioces of fish, and chips. All cooked in deep fat fryers. Very limited choice, but good fresh produce and nicely cooked.
No waste as nothing has time to go off.
I am not advocating opening a load of fish and chips places but the concept is good
Maybe it could be adapted to the English tastes.

JLFS

It was on the spanish TV that the spanish aren't spending. There was a report saying the same in DiarioSur a few days ago (you do all read spanish newspapers don't you). It said briefly, there are less spanish on the coast, they are not renting sun-beds or eating in chiringuitos, stocking up at supermercados thats all. I don't know any spanish that would go in a British bar. I have seen some in the Manila bar in Fuengy. Still I bow to the superior knowledge of some posters who seem to know more about the spanish than people born here!

If the spanish do use the Brit bars why do you think that is? Most people on here say they don't even go in them