First Wetherspoons pub to open in Europe giving Brits taste of home overseas | World | News
JD Wetherspoon is to open its first pub outside the UK, where British fries and other British classics will be part of the menu. The pub will be called Castell de Santa Barbera and will open at Alicante airport in Spain.
Alicante is a popular destination for British tourists and the pub will be located in the departure area of the airport, allowing British holidaymakers to get a taste of Britain before returning home. Wetherspoon founder and chairman Sir Tim Martin said the pub giant is ‘very much looking forward’ to opening its first overseas ‘Spoons’.
“We believe it will be popular with people returning home from Alicante airport,” he added.
Sir Tim also confirmed the pub marks the beginning of Wetherspoon’s expansion abroad.
He said Wetherspoon hoped to open “a number” of pubs abroad, including in airports, in the coming months and years.
Castell de Santa Barbera will trade seven days a week from 6am to 9pm and is scheduled to open by the end of January.
It will serve traditional pub fare such as British fries and burgers, as well as some popular local dishes such as garlic prawns and Spanish omelettes.
Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernandez Airport is becoming increasingly popular Among the British for flights, it offers access to the Costa Blanca region on Spain’s southeast coast and destinations such as Benidorm.
The new Spanish Wetherspoon facility will offer almost 1,000 square feet of customer space on a single floor, along with an outdoor terrace with customer seating.
It forms part of the chain’s plans to open 30 new pubs in the current financial year, including 15 managed pubs and 15 franchises.
Wetherspoon currently operates nearly 800 pubs across the UK.
Latest figures showed the group recorded a 3.7% increase in like-for-like sales in the first 14 weeks of the financial year to November 2.
However, Sir Tim said at the time that the firm had “taken account of the Chancellor’s Budget statement at the end of this month and has become slightly more cautious in its outlook for the rest of the year as a result”.
