The crisis is also preying upon bars. It may still be true what Joaquín Sabina said about ‘Antón Martín’ an area in the centre of Madrid and that there are more bars there than in all of Norway. But the recession has taken away many businesses in recent years. In just four years, between 2008 and 2012, more than 50,000 bars have closed in Spain and this branch of the hospitality business has lost 13 % of its sales, about 8,000 million less (up to total of 51.363 million), according to data from the Spanish Federation of Hospitality (FEHR). Reducing sales, price cuts and increased taxes, energy costs and costs of licenses or terraces are some of the factors that have led to the closure of many of these facilities. Spain had at the end of last year a total of 197,391 bars. A number that is still considerable, even after losing 25% of the country’s establishments. The fact is that with nearly 200,000 bars, there is an establishment for every 235 Spaniards, as stated in a report The Hospitality Sector 2012, written by Manuel Figuerola, economic adviser for FEHR.
The profile of the Spanish bar has not changed much over the years and most are still small businesses. In fact, 95 % of establishments have fewer than 10 workers and 45% of them do not have hired employees, so those businesses rely exclusively on independent traders.
The entire Spanish hospitality sector, in addition to the bars restaurants, cafes and hotels, add up to, according to the study, more than 300,000 establishments. The entire hotel business increased its turnover last year to 119.823 million euros and employed 1,322,200 workers.
The restaurant and food stalls sector is, after bars, the next largest, with 73,023 stores in 2012, a figure that has grown since 2008 by about 3,000 establishments. This represents 43 % of the production sector and in 2012 a turnover of 40.435 million euros, 4.1% more than in 2008.
The Spanish hotel industry has also grown during the crisis. The country has a total of 16,981 hotel establishments, 500 more than in 2008 and had a combined turnover of 17,110 million euros at the end of 2012.