JD Wetherspoon opened its first pub in continental Europe this morning – serving pints of Stella Artois alongside full English breakfasts, burgers and pizzas.
The venue, named Castell de Santa Bàrbera, has been constructed in the airside area of departures at Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernandez Airport in Spain.
The pub is open seven days a week from 6am to 9pm with nearly 1,000 square feet of space on one level, as well as an external terrace with customer seating.
The menu includes many meals already available in Wetherspoon pubs in the UK as well as local dishes including garlic prawns and Spanish omelette.
Several draught lagers or beers are available such as Amstel Original and Stella Artois for €5.95 (£5.18), Guinness for €7.50 (£6.53) and Leffe Blonde for €7.95 (£6.92).
A traditional English breakfast is €10.25 (£8.92) while a classic beef burger with chips is €12.95 (£11.27) and a bowl of eight chicken bites is €10.95 (£9.53).
Food is served at all times up to an hour before closing. Wetherspoon founder and chairman Tim Martin said today: ‘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.
New Wetherspoon pub Castell de Santa Bàrbera is opened in Alicante this morning
The pub is in the airside area of departures at Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernandez Airport
The pub is open seven days a week from 6am to 9pm with nearly 1,000 square feet of space
‘We aim to open a number of pubs overseas in the coming months and years, including those at airports.’
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 pub is being operated by Wetherspoon’s franchise partner, Lagardère Travel Retail.
Javier Cagigal, Lagardère’s Spain and Portugal chief executive, said: ‘At Alicante Airport, our team has focused on understanding passenger expectations and translating that insight into a dining offer that is relevant and appealing.
‘This opening reflects our locally driven approach and the way we work with partner brands across our portfolio.
Wetherspoon previously told the Mail that 90 per cent of the menu would be dishes seen on the regular menu in its UK pubs.
The chain said the pub was named after Santa Bàrbara Castle in Alicante to give it some ‘local heritage’, and does not have a special carpet design like other Wetherspoon pubs – but was instead floored with Spanish tiles.
Sir Tim revealed in January last year that Wetherspoon was considering opening its first pubs abroad in some of Britons’ favourite European holiday hotspots.
The chain had been eyeing up resorts popular with UK tourists in Spain – but confirmed at that time that it would not be considering China.
Sir Tim said he was looking at franchises abroad after a series of successful partnerships in Britain with Haven holiday parks and the universities of Hull and Newcastle.
The new JD Wetherspoon pub is the chain’s first to be opened in continental Europe
The pub in the airport’s departures area also has an external terrace with customer seating
The menu includes many meals already available in Wetherspoon pubs in the UK
The Watford-based company had never previously opened a pub outside the UK and Ireland until today. The chain already operates nearly 800 pubs.
Also today, Sir Tim urged other hospitality industry bosses to throw their support behind Reform UK’s policies for the pub sector, including plans to slash beer tax.
He said the proposed changes would help the sector move towards ‘tax parity with supermarkets’.
The Nigel Farage-led party announced a series of proposals aimed at support the ailing sector last week.
These included a pledge to cut VAT in the hospitality sector by 10 per cent, cut beer duty by 10 per cent, reverse the recent rise in employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) for the sector and a gradual removal of business rates for all pubs.
Reform has said it would fund this package with around £3billion, with plans to secure this through reinstating the two-child benefit cap.
Last week, Wetherspoon issued a warning over profits and revealed a £45million cost hit in its first half.
The chain said on January 21 that it was being knocked by higher-than-expected costs in the first 25 weeks of its financial year, including rising bills for energy, wages and business rates.
It said profits in the first half are ‘likely to be lower’ year on year, with the annual trading result also set to come in ‘slightly’ below the previous year, if sales continue on the same path.
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