Wetherspoon has opened its first pub in Europe, with the new boozer located at Spain’s Alicante airport
Wetherspoon has opened its first pub in Europe – complete with a full English fry-up and butties.
The British favourite is branching out with a boozer at Spain’s Alicante airport – and is expected to prove a big hit with Brits heading to Benidorm and other traditional hotspots.
And it looks set to be the first of what could be many, with boss Tim Martin signalling other openings, potentially in the coming months.
But those expecting a slice of home when it comes to decor, at least, may be disappointed. Gone are the traditional Wetherspoon carpet, replaced by Spanish tiles, along with slight cream paintwork.
What does remain is the menu, with 90% of what you can get in most Spoons being served up for home-sick Brits.
That includes a traditional breakfast with fried eggs, bacon, Lincolnshire sausage and baked beans – all for 10.25 euros, or around £8.94.
But that’s a fair bit more than back in most Spoons, where it averages £5.09. It is, says the firm, less than at most of its airport branches back in the UK.
A bacon butty, sausage butty or vegetarian butty are all 5.95 euros (£5.19). The pub, called Castell de Santa Bàrbera, will trade seven days a week, from 6am to 9pm.
It will have nearly 1,000 square foot of customer space on one level, together with an external terrace with customer seating.
Wetherspoon founder and chairman Tim Martin said: “We are delighted to have opened in Spain.
“We believe the pub will be popular with a wide range of customers travelling home from Alicante Airport, including those travelling home to the UK and those using the terminal for trips to England and beyond.
“We aim to open a number of pubs overseas in the coming months and years, including those at airports.”
Mr Martin previously said it made sense to have offshoots in Benidorm and Majorca.
He told the Mirror : “It’s early days. Since it’s all so new, we’re playing it by ear.”
But he did dangle the possibility – however remote at this stage – of Spoons in China: “Given the population overseas, there is huge opportunity.
“Coffee shops have been fantastically successful in, for example, China. Could this be true of the UK pub?”
The menu also includes sausages, chips and beans, burgers, as well as a few local dishes, such as garlic prawn dishes and Spanish omelette.
While curry is there too, it is of the Katsu variety.
When it comes to beer, it will serve Guinness, Stella Artois, local Spanish brews. One area where it will differ is on the floor, where the pub won’t have a specially designed carpet and instead will be piled.
The Alicante pub is likely to be busy, with more than 2.6 million Brits visiting the Costa Blanca last year. EasyJet, Ryanair, Jet2, and British Airways all offer direct flights to Alicante.
Among Spoons’ competitors at Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernandez Airport will be the airport’s Enrique Tomás Experience, described as a tasting bar offering 100% acorn-fed ham and other traditional Iberian pork products, such as chorizo and salchichón sausage.
The airport also has a Budweiser bar with and outdoor terrace, that’s open from 6am to 9pm.
Like the one in Alicante, and a growing number of UK openings, any overseas expansion is likely to be in the form of a partnership with franchise operators.
Wetherspoon was founded with one pub in Muswell Hill North London in 1984.
It reached 955 outlets in 2015 but, following a decade in which it closed more sites than it opened due to cost pressures and changing customer habits, the chain is back to just under 800 across the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
It has resisted opening branches elsewhere in Europe – until now.
The Alicante airport pub is part of plans to open around 30 pubs over the next year – its biggest expansion for a decade.
Around half the 30 will be run by JD Wetherspoon itself, with the rest run by fran-chisees, creating 1,800 jobs.
One of Wetherspoon’s largest ever opened at a Haven holiday park in Devon in May this year. The pub, called the Red Rocks, can pack in nearly 700 punters, and can serve as many as 2,000 pints a day.
While other parts of the pub trade are in crisis, Wetherspoon has enjoyed bumper trading.
The Alicante pub – located in departures – will be run by franchise partner, Lagardère Travel Retail.
