Dimitris Kouimtsidis
THE number of hospitality establishments in Spain have been decreasing in recent years.
Bars and restaurants have been closing down throughout the country on an average of 2,000 per year.
In 2017, Spain had 246,203 hospitality establishments.
That number dropped to 244,428 in 2018 and 242,443 in 2019.
That means that over the last two years, 3,760 establishments have closed down.
In the specific case of bars, we have gone from having 167,798, to 165,736.
Celia Rodriguez, an expert at Nielsen consulting said: “Behind this phenomenon are demographic movements, the population does not grow but ages.
“In addition, the villages are emptying and people are moving to the cities, so bars are closing in rural areas and instead opening in urban areas.”
Independent bars and clubs are the ones suffering the most.
This is due to a change in the consumption habits of Spaniards, as more drinks are now drunk in the day time than late at night.
Out of over 240,000 hospitality establishments in the country, 186,000 are the hybrid cafeteria-bar type, highlighting the above trend even further.
Rodriguez added: “The aging population has a lot to do with this loss of establishments, because as people get older, they tend to go to bars less.”
The same applies for nightime establishments, such as clubs, with late night customers having decreased between 30% and 40%.
Rodriguez concluded: “Millennials are not choosing to go out at night and those from previous generations haven’t stopped going out, but they don’t do it at night either.”
On the coasts however, things look a little bit different.
Bars are closing down, but more hotels and restaurants are opening.
