Wetherspoon to open its first pub abroad at popular British holiday spot
British pub chain JD Wetherspoon is set to launch its first mainland European establishment at Alicante airport in Spain.
The pub, which will be named Castell de Santa Barbera, is planned to open at the end of January. Located in the Departure area, the resort aims to give UK holidaymakers a taste of Britain before returning home.
Trading from 6am to 9pm seven days a week, the establishment will serve traditional pub fare including British fries and burgers, as well as popular local dishes such as garlic prawns and Spanish omelettes.
Announcing the new pub, Wetherspoon founder and chairman Sir Tim Martin said: “We are looking forward to opening our first overseas pub.
“We believe it will be popular with people returning home from Alicante airport.”
Sir Martin said this was the beginning of Wetherspoon’s overseas expansion.
“We aim to open many pubs abroad, including at airports, in the coming months and years,” 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 Spain’s south-east 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.
Earlier this month the chain reported rising sales but said it was being cautious ahead of the upcoming Budget, saying recent Government policies had already caused costs to rise.
Like-for-like sales rose 3.7% in the first 14 weeks of the financial year to November 2, the group said.
This is on top of the 3.2% growth in the first few weeks.
Bar sales were up 5.7%, food lifts were up 0.9% and sales from slot and fruit machines were up 8.9%, but hotel room sales were down 6.3%.
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 as a result has become slightly more cautious in its outlook for the rest of the year”.
