Wetherspoons to open first pub in Spain as chain eyes overseas expansion

JD Wetherspoon is to open its first pub in mainland Europe with plans for a bar at Alicante airport in Spain.

The pub – to be called the Castell de Santa Barbera – is set to open at the end of January and will be based in departures, allowing UK holidaymakers to have taste of Britain before they fly back home.

It will trade seven days a week from 6am to 9pm and will offer traditional pub food, including English fry ups and burgers, alongside some popular local dishes such as garlic prawns and Spanish omelette.

Wetherspoon founder and chairman Sir Tim Martin said: “We are very much looking forward to opening our first overseas pub.

“We believe it will be popular with people travelling home from Alicante airport.”

He said this marks the start of Wetherspoon’s expansion overseas.

“We aim to open a number of pubs overseas in the coming months and years, including those at airports,” he said.

Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernandez Airport is becoming increasingly popular for Brits to fly into, giving them access to the Costa Blanca region on the south-eastern coast of Spain and destinations such as Benidorm.

The new Spanish Wetherspoon site will offer almost 1,000 square foot of customer space on one level, alongside an external terrace with customer seating.

It forms part of plans by the chain to open 30 new pubs in its current financial year – 15 managed pubs and 15 franchises.

Wetherspoon already operates nearly 800 pubs across the UK.

Recent figures showed the group notched up a 3.7% rise in like-for-like sales over the first 14 weeks of its financial year, to November 2.

But Sir Tim said at the time the firm was “mindful of the Chancellor’s Budget statement later this month and, as a result, is slightly more cautious in its outlook for the remainder of the year”.