# tourist /resturant trade in fuenigrola



## ev01241 (Jun 12, 2012)

Hi
We are looking at buying a bar /resturant in fuenigrola inthe marina area can anyone tell what trade is like are there many tourists are they spending money.we have owned a bar and lived in javea.is it still possible to my:focus:ake a living with decent resturant and good food! !!!


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

ev01241 said:


> Hi
> We are looking at buying a bar /resturant in fuenigrola inthe marina area can anyone tell what trade is like are there many tourists are they spending money.we have owned a bar and lived in javea.is it still possible to my:focus:ake a living with decent resturant and good food! !!!


Dont do it! The marina in Fuengirola has a bad reputation and isnt a pleasant place to be. Its not attractive and its not somewhere I'd recommend any tourist to bother visiting. We went there once, we were going find somewhere to eat there, but it was so horrible, shabby and grubby and pretty empty (eventho it was during the summer), we walked into the town instead.

I wouldnt recommend buying a bar or restaurant in Spain right now, the economic climate isnt conducive to making anywhere near enough money to survive

Jo xxx


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## ev01241 (Jun 12, 2012)

*buy bar in costa del sol*



ev01241 said:


> Hi
> We are looking at buying a bar /resturant in fuenigrola inthe marina area can anyone tell what trade is like are there many tourists are they spending money.we have owned a bar and lived in javea.is it still possible to my:focus:ake a living with decent resturant and good food! !!!


Hi thanks for the information regarding the marina , we don't have rose tinted spec regarding spain but if we did buy a bar are there any areas you would recomend and is it possible with hard work to make a living ,,


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

My advice would be... go to the place you are thinking of buying and sit outside it for at least two weeks.. you will then have a good idea if it has any clientèle... books can say anything.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

ev01241 said:


> Hi thanks for the information regarding the marina , we don't have rose tinted spec regarding spain but if we did buy a bar are there any areas you would recomend and is it possible with hard work to make a living ,,


Benalmadena Marina is nicer, busier and of course very expensive to lease or buy there! But any seaside bar would be ok - even fuengirola, its just the marina there is grim, characterless and scruffy IMO - but you need to go and have a look really, then you'll get an idea. However, in this economic crisis, I dont think hard work is enough - You know the trade, I dont, altho I have a habit of chatting to bar/restaurant owners, from what I've seen and its certainly the case off season, the hard work is simply sitting waiting for a punter!!!! Another problem seem to be getting the stock levels right. Nipping out to get things, throwing away perishable stuff........

I would seriously question those who are selling a bar/restaurant, why???? There are so many of them. Walk along Fuengirola seafront and there are so many closed and boarded up, most of those left are obviously struggling, with blackboards trying to compete with each other to the point where they are giving food and drink away, A fact finding trip is needed!



Jo xxx


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## ev01241 (Jun 12, 2012)

*tourist trad in cds*



jojo said:


> Benalmadena Marina is nicer, busier and of course very expensive to lease or buy there! But any seaside bar would be ok - even fuengirola, its just the marina there is grim, characterless and scruffy IMO - but you need to go and have a look really, then you'll get an idea. However, in this economic crisis, I dont think hard work is enough - You know the trade, I dont, altho I have a habit of chatting to bar/restaurant owners, from what I've seen and its certainly the case off season, the hard work is simply sitting waiting for a punter!!!! Another problem seem to be getting the stock levels right. Nipping out to get things, throwing away perishable stuff........
> 
> I would seriously question those who are selling a bar/restaurant, why???? There are so many of them. Walk along Fuengirola seafront and there are so many closed and boarded up, most of those left are obviously struggling, with blackboards trying to compete with each other to the point where they are giving food and drink away, A fact finding trip is needed!
> 
> ...


Hi JO

Thanks for your reply ,we are going out next thursday ,i have heard the tourist trade is good at the moment and lot of people visiting the area .I also liked Belamadena but been told its not as busy through out the year and lots of hill .
Do you think its the case where many bars are shut due to people having no experiance have rose tinted spec and thinking its an easy way to make money or is there a lack of tourists .How long have you lived there and how do you like the life style 
thanks yvonne xxx


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

ev01241 said:


> Hi JO
> 
> Thanks for your reply ,we are going out next thursday ,i have heard the tourist trade is good at the moment and lot of people visiting the area .I also liked Belamadena but been told its not as busy through out the year and lots of hill .
> Do you think its the case where many bars are shut due to people having no experiance have rose tinted spec and thinking its an easy way to make money or is there a lack of tourists .How long have you lived there and how do you like the life style
> thanks yvonne xxx


I'm actually back in the UK for now cos my husband was commuting for work and got fed up with it, that said I still flit over to Spain frequently and regularly and have firends (and my life) there! The lifestyle is lovely - as you would know from your past experience. Its happier and the sunshine is a real lift for everyone. Costwise, its not that much cheaper to live there, theres more to do, and its easier to do stuff. In the UK its an event to go out, in Spain you simply go!!!

As for Benal being hilly?? It is once you get away from the seafront, but I would say the front is busier than Fuengi. Fuengi on the other hand is possibly nicer and has more places to go, so its "busy-ness" is more spread out.

When you get over, go into the bars, as many as you can and see if you can get chatting to the owners. Importantly, ask about how business is during the winter and the overheads. I was chatting to one who'd had their bar there for twenty years and they were being crucified by the different payments, including the increase in the payments for having tables and boards outside. They said that the good times had gone. They opened when there were only one or two bars around, now there were 100s. Another one whose whole family had come over many years ago to run their bar/restaurant had now sent most of the family back to the UK and sadly the last time I looked there was a "Se Vende" sign outside

I'd say the problems arent to do with newbies with their rose coloured glasses, I'd say its a mixture of the austerity measures now implemented in Spain, the panic by other associated businesses and the reduced amount of tourists and their spending. Theres a lot of all inclusive holidays being offered these days

Jo xxx


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Perhaps you should consider visiting the southern areas of one of the larger Canary Islands. I say this because the tourist season is more or less all year round.


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

ev01241 said:


> Hi JO
> 
> Thanks for your reply ,we are going out next thursday ,i have heard the tourist trade is good at the moment and lot of people visiting the area .I also liked Belamadena but been told its not as busy through out the year and lots of hill .
> Do you think its the case where many bars are shut due to people having no experiance have rose tinted spec and thinking its an easy way to make money or is there a lack of tourists .How long have you lived there and how do you like the life style
> thanks yvonne xxx


As Jo said business is cut throat, you may sell thirty full English brekkies but with maybe a 50c profit on each if your lucky, if your making 40 or 50 c on a beer you have got to shift an awful lot to make ends meet. 

I think the bar situation is Spain is a combination of the economic climate and changing tastes. Look at the UK, literally hundreds of local pubs are closing forever, never to reopen. People expect different things these days, younger folk want bars/clubs where the music is loud enough to make your ears bleed and the drink cheap and strong enough to make you forget what you did with a person you'd only met an hour before. There is room for smaller bars with a limited menu but not as much room as ten or fifteen years ago, those days are over.

You could very easily end up stuck in an empty bar eighteen hours a day seven days a week worrying about the bills. Save your money, forget a bar in Spain unless you have a very serious amount of money to invest and develop something different from 'Ye Olde Kings Head' or 'Don Papo's' sort of thing. I've been going to Gran Canaria for over a decade and I see some bars changing hands on a yearly basis, nothing wrong with them but there are just too many of the same and not enough punters.


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## lynn (Sep 25, 2008)

ev01241 said:


> Hi
> We are looking at buying a bar /resturant in fuenigrola inthe marina area can anyone tell what trade is like are there many tourists are they spending money.we have owned a bar and lived in javea.is it still possible to my:focus:ake a living with decent resturant and good food! !!!


I wouldn't recommend touching any business in the port area. We go there sometimes in the winter when we walk the dog, and it's dead as a dodo... Many of the outlets have ceased to even change hands on a yearly basis - at least before they were open in high season, now some are permanently closed. 

However, Fuengirola is busy and vibrant, and good (usually Spanish) established restaurants and bars are busy all year round.... the area behind the Correos and around the main square are particular favourites of mine. But it's a mine field - one bar can be busy and one in the next street empty..

I did read in the Spanish local paper that tourist numbers were relatively buoyant, but the restaurant owners (these were chirungitos in Malaga) said that the lowest spenders were the Brit tourists. As others have touched upon, there are many hotels now offering all inclusive deals which appeal to cash strapped British tourists, especially as the exchange rate from GBP to Euro has been so expensive... that may be changing, and it will be interesting to see what effect it may have on the tourist trade. That being said, at the moment, the largest proportion of tourists in Fuengirola are undoubtedly Spaniards, and you are best to ensure that you are able to court their business.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

If you are well experienced professionals, your premises are spotless, your service is good, your meals are tasty and well presented, you cater for the needs of the population in the area, be they tourists or locals, your menu changes with the seasons, then you must succeed.

Word will get around and customers will increase. My son manages in such a place in England and is rushed off his feet. My friend Francisco, has taken over a failed bar/restaurant business here on El Hierro, it has taken off like a rocket, whereas others are really struggling.

It can be done, with a lot of research, good preparation, and knowing the business inside out.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Hepa said:


> If you are well experienced professionals, your premises are spotless, your service is good, your meals are tasty and well presented, you cater for the needs of the population in the area, be they tourists or locals, your menu changes with the seasons, then you must succeed.


 Sadly, none of that really matters much if you are catering for tourists who are transient and will be gone after two weeks without "spreading the word" and sadly in this economic climate and of course in that area, its the tourists who are going to be the main trade. Generally all they will want is a drink, an ice cream and the occasional meal

Jo xxx


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

jojo said:


> Sadly, none of that really matters much if you are catering for tourists who are transient and will be gone after two weeks without "spreading the word" and sadly in this economic climate and of course in that area, its the tourists who are going to be the main trade. Generally all they will want is a drink, an ice cream and the occasional meal
> 
> Jo xxx


Then do your research and find an area where you will succeed. It can and has been done. Jimenato seems to have succeeded.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Hepa said:


> Then do your research and find an area where you will succeed. It can and has been done. Jimenato seems to have succeeded.


 Um, I dont want to succeed lol!! I personally would sooner eat my own head than work in or own a bar - I find it a struggle cooking for and feeding my family. 

I think jimento has succeeded because he went to his village and then, once he understood and knew the area he took on the local bar, of which there arent many, nor is he in the touristy costa!!?

Jo xxx


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

We don't often go down to the costas except for an occasional trip to Fuengirola to go to Iceland. There are plenty of Brits about that area who go to shop and maybe make a day of it and have lunch, go for a drink, etc. You might like to see what you can find around that patch.

Last time we thought that for a real change (i.e. the first time in three yeras) we'd go and have fish and chips - what a disappointment: frozen battered fish that was 80% batter much of which hadn't cooked because it had cooked from frozen, the fish was barely ¼inch thick. awful, the only saving grace was the chips which were very good.

BTW, we didn't make a special trip (it's 2½ hours each way) thank goodness, but only went on to there after dropping my sister at Malaga airport.


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## lynn (Sep 25, 2008)

There's already one new cafe just opened there Baldilocks. Took over a Chinese takeaway, plus a Lizzarin (sp) already. I don't think the Miramar could carry another eatery. Plus of course, the dreadful Iceland cafe


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

lynn said:


> There's already one new cafe just opened there Baldilocks. Took over a Chinese takeaway, plus a Lizzarin (sp) already. I don't think the Miramar could carry another eatery. Plus of course, the dreadful Iceland cafe


I bow to your superior local knowledge since ours is almost negligible, e.g. we found a nice patch of free off-street parking that was almost deserted. When we came back to the car it was full and we only just managed to get out - it was next to the mosque and on a Friday!


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