The hospitality industry in general and restaurants in particular are in good health. According to the latest data available from the Spanish Hospitality Association, there are 266,837 bars or restaurants in our country. One for every 182 people. They employ 1.38 million workers and produce nearly 116 billion euros per year. However, despite the compelling figures, companies in the sector have a problem. The expression “close the bar” does not only apply to the most night-driving clientele: year after year, a good part of these businesses lower the blinds. In 2024, the restaurant industry had a business turnover rate of 21% according to figures from CaixaBank Research. This rate measures what percentage of the total active companies in a sector are renewed annually. Specifically, in that year alone, 9.9% of all bars and restaurants in the country closed, while 11.1% of all establishments began operating. This rotation has two sides. CaixaBank relates the high percentage of bars and restaurants that open each year with the relatively low entry barriers of setting up one of these establishments. The initial investment is not too large: the experts consulted compare it to buying a car. The necessary figure is between 15,000 or 30,000 euros at the bottom of the range, around 60,000 euros on average and whatever you want to invest as the upper limit. In contrast to the relative simplicity of the reason behind so much openness, the high mortality is more complicated to explain.Aside from extraordinary factors such as the pandemic, Ainhoa Soria, head of communication and industry relations in Spain at The Fork, a platform specialized in managing restaurant reservations, speaks of a combination of factors. «It is a very dynamic sector, but also very demanding, where in recent years hoteliers have had to adapt to very rapid economic, social and technological changes. Today, one of the elements that most affects this type of business is the pressure on profitability,» he identifies. Jose Luis Álvarez Almeida, president of Hospitality of Spain and owner of a restaurant in Oviedo, agrees with this vision. Álvarez concedes that, although there are fine dining businesses that operate with much higher margins because they are focused on other types of clientele, the majority of bars or restaurants operate with a very narrow margin. “We are seeing that profitability has decreased on average by 0.9% in 2025. It is not that we are losing money, but that we are not earning the same as before due to several variables,” he reveals. One of those factors that put pressure on the margins was, according to Álvarez, the staff. In 2025, the hospitality sector had an increase in salary costs of around 10%. The president points out that it is not that employees earn 10% more, but that it is also due to a high absenteeism rate. “Add to this the runaway price rise of products such as meat, fish and oil last year and that of eggs this year.” With the rise in costs, the sector finds itself between a rock and a hard place. And it is not only the business margin itself that has shrunk. So has the ability to pass those costs on to customers. «We are concerned about the issue of war, the increase in the price of electricity and gasoline. We are concerned about the rise in the Euribor. That this rise means more costs for families who will have to cut back somewhere. Our sector is one of the first to notice the disturbances. We live very close to society and when there is weakening, the sector notices it instantly. One of the things we ask the Government to do is to deflate taxes so that families regain purchasing power,» he requests. Álvarez as a remedy. Beyond the pressure factors, Álvarez highlights the importance of a restaurant or bar having its own personality. A differential element. It is also key, in their eyes, that the hotelier is not just a hotelkeeper, but that he is a businessman in the full sense of the term. Precisely, this is one of the most vital issues that can make the difference between a prosperous business and having to lower the blinds. In a recently published study on the challenges of the sector based on 615 interviews with restaurant owners, The Fork detected that one in three businesses are in a delicate financial situation. 36% do not have exhaustive control of accounts and 22% of those surveyed admitted not having sufficient knowledge for the accounting part of the business. Being updated, sufficiently digitized and innovating in how things are done are also elements that can make a difference. All of these factors are even more important than location in Álvarez’s eyes.
The biggest sin possible
José Javier Márquez ran a bar for seven years. Located in the Madrid neighborhood of Moratalaz, the Las Tejas bar was a family business with portions and a daily menu. Márquez closed for another reason that can cause the end of one of these businesses: due to health complications or the retirement of its owner. «In my particular case, I closed for medical reasons, but people close in many cases because they open businesses without having a clue. Those don’t last long. The most important thing is to have knowledge of numbers. Make the cash register, keep records, know what things cost you. You have to keep accounts. Keep in mind the scandal of what you sell,» he explains. The scandal is what is called to calculate the specific cost of a product. For Márquez, along with this lack of knowledge about accounts, something that is also a necessity for a bar or restaurant is greed. «People often don’t realize the prices they are paying. They ask them for real nonsense for normal consumption. Raising prices and margins must be done wisely and with reason. From a kilo of coffee you get 100 coffees. If they raise you 60 cents per kilo of coffee, and you raise five cents per coffee, you get 5 euros more. With a reasonable increase, you have already covered what made your coffee more expensive. What It is not normal that since the supplier has raised you three euros per kilo, you take it and raise one euro more for the coffee. If people are having a hard time with money, and on top of that you have unreasonable prices, your business is going to suffer much more,” he reflects. Another fundamental issue continues to be the factor of humane treatment. According to 43% of restaurateurs surveyed by The Fork, customers compare and plan their reservations more now than before, because they have many more options to choose from, so attracting and retaining diners is increasingly difficult. In fact, 72% claimed that their customers had a repeat rate of less than 50%. There are businesses in which high traffic makes it not so essential for people to return, but for others, it is the difference between living or dying. Márquez points out that a peculiar thing happens in hospitality. «You are treating your clientele very well, with affection, the best you can, but like once you put in the prawn, people don’t forget. They cross you. You have to be careful. The normal thing is that people who have a business like this are used to it, but if every time someone asks you for something you respond in a bad way, it will be strange that you don’t close,» he describes.
Location
Asked about the importance of location, the former businessman clashes with Álvarez’s vision. «Location is essential. An establishment that is in a transit place, the day after opening is making money. Location can make it work well for someone who is inexperienced, who is a blanket and who is also expensive,» he confronts. In his opinion, the issue of digitalization, although it helps and makes management more comfortable, is not something of life or death either. Regarding taxes, he says that “there are people in the sector who complain a lot about them, but there have been taxes all our lives.” Where he does completely agree with Álvarez is in the importance that the president of Hospitality gives to differentiating himself. To have something that makes the business unique. Márquez recommends looking for something that is done very well and focusing on perfecting it. For his part, Álvarez also reviews what helps to survive. «As Ferrán Adriá says, a hospitality business that does not have an accounting plan, that does not have budgets, that does not have a communication plan, that is not clear about the margins, how to bill, who can be billed, it is impossible for that business to succeed. You have to know accounting, kitchen management, room management, communication plan. Being a hotelier and holding on is not because you know how to cook well, or that you have people skills. It is because you know these disciplines. Today, a businessman hospitality is, above all, a businessman,” concludes the hotelier. With clear accounts, a unique proposal and reasonable prices, a bar or restaurant will have an easier time surviving.
