# Expat-themed bar



## Barone (Dec 25, 2013)

Hi, I'm thinking of starting a bar geared towards expats living in Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia). I'm wondering if you all think of this idea.

The idea is that English-speaking expats would create a local presence and be part of a larger network of bars in iconic tourist locations. 

Hope to hear from you!!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Barone said:


> Hi, I'm thinking of starting a bar geared towards expats living in Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia). I'm wondering if you all think of this idea.
> 
> The idea is that English-speaking expats would create a local presence and be part of a larger network of bars in iconic tourist locations.
> 
> Hope to hear from you!!


Hmm a similar question was asked very recently by someone who also posted the same question on several different countries pages.
Have you ever been to Spain? If so you'll know that there are already a fair number of pub like places functioning especially in the south and elsewhere there are a large number of Irish pubs...


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Hmm a similar question was asked very recently by someone who also posted the same question on several different countries pages.
> Have you ever been to Spain? If so you'll know that* there are already a fair number of pub like places functioning especially in the south and elsewhere there are a large number of Irish pubs*...



the vast majority of which are for sale because they are struggling to pay the bills....


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

Barone said:


> Hi, I'm thinking of starting a bar geared towards expats living in Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia). I'm wondering if you all think of this idea.
> 
> The idea is that English-speaking expats would create a local presence and be part of a larger network of bars in iconic tourist locations.
> 
> Hope to hear from you!!


Hello Barone.
You know that expression "Shutting the Stable Door", well forget that as the horse never came back and lived a long and happy life.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

English-speaking expats are a very diverse bunch (you only have to read this forum to realise that). We all have our own ideas of what the ideal bar should be like - see the recent thread on live music, for example. You'd never please everybody, so you'd need to decide which group would be your target market.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Why would anyone uproot onesself and drag one's goods and chattels several thousand miles across Europe to sit in a bar with a load of other British immigrants??

Just asking...


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Its been done to death over the years. Most CdS towns (but other areas with British expats and tourists) have had several "British bars", with British names, interiors, dart boards, selling British beer, food...... There are one or two left, but AFAIK struggling

Jo xxx


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

None at all here.


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## ssbn02 (May 16, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> Why would anyone uproot onesself and drag one's goods and chattels several thousand miles across Europe to sit in a bar with a load of other British immigrants??
> 
> Just asking...



the weather, the ability to get a pint of real beer, and being a lifelong expat, the company of other british people. Plus compared to other countries I have lived in Spain is still cheap so does attract maybe the crowd you want to avoid. Have come across some excellent pubs, whether they were British or not I am not sure, in Barcelona, Madrid and Marbella. Most of them dont have bingo, open mike nights etc and tend to be full of locals, not Brits who for some reason or other look down there noses at Brits who want a taste of old blighty and a good pint. They tend not to grab the holiday football shirt brigade or holiday crowd granted. Hey dont get me wrong I do like a quiet night in and do entertain those that dont like a pint atmosphere but being a British slob/hooligan and everything else we get labelled with I do like a pint in a nice pub.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

ssbn02 said:


> the weather, the ability to get a pint of real beer, and being a lifelong expat, the company of other british people. Plus compared to other countries I have lived in Spain is still cheap so does attract maybe the crowd you want to avoid. Have come across some excellent pubs, whether they were British or not I am not sure, in Barcelona, Madrid and Marbella. Most of them dont have bingo, open mike nights etc and tend to be full of locals, not Brits who for some reason or other look down there noses at Brits who want a taste of old blighty and a good pint. They tend not to grab the holiday football shirt brigade or holiday crowd granted. Hey dont get me wrong I do like a quiet night in and do entertain those that dont like a pint atmosphere but being a British slob/hooligan and everything else we get labelled with I do like a pint in a nice pub.


I've lived in other countries too and the same there, Brits like to congregate. Other nationalities seemingly don't have the same urge,
I don't in any way condemn people who like these bars. My son would be in hog heaven and would drive miles to find apub serving Fullers Lndon Pride and with Premier League football on tv...orgasmic!
But to me, partof being abroad is the essential foreignness.
Horses for courses, I guess..


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## ssbn02 (May 16, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> I've lived in other countries too and the same there, Brits like to congregate. Other nationalities seemingly don't have the same urge,
> I don't in any way condemn people who like these bars. My son would be in hog heaven and would drive miles to find apub serving Fullers Lndon Pride and with Premier League football on tv...orgasmic!
> But to me, partof being abroad is the essential foreignness.
> Horses for courses, I guess..


yes horses for courses. other countries or nationalities do have overseas clubs though which we brits leave to the young mums or, no disrespect, older generation. Travelling around I dont see many tapas or spanish cafes opening globally, as nice as they are. Must be something about a pub when even cheeky foreigners who are not up on pub etiquette like to socialise in them. They flood across borders to drink in them in the middle east. The buisest bar/pub in nice is an irish pub...barcelona irish pub, dubai any pub, queen mary even has its own pub to cater for british well heeled roughnecks.
Have to say i do agree with the football sarcasm...wouldnt drive anywhere to watch it myself but would and have driven many miles for a pint in a pub. 

A very good rule of thumb on judging a pub abroad is whether they sell draught guiness and its quality, that and do they show rugby. (bit of a bad point outside of madrid or barcelona i find ) if they do both then it has to be quality. Long live the British Pub, Hoorah!! (oh and Irish)


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## SandraP (Apr 23, 2014)

Although I have not yet lived anywhere but the UK, when I go abroad I like to find the restaurants the locals use (tend to be the best) and drink in the bars and cafes that local people use. I would not appreciate a bar run with ex-pats in mind when I do move to Spain, my aim for moving to Spain is to try and live life the way the local people do and drink where they frequent so that I can become a part of life in the area I move to rather than set myself apart from local life.
I am sure that many people move away from UK to move away from the British way of life and not just the weather.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

ssbn02 said:


> yes horses for courses. other countries or nationalities do have overseas clubs though which we brits leave to the young mums or, no disrespect, older generation. Travelling around I dont see many tapas or spanish cafes opening globally, as nice as they are. Must be something about a pub when even cheeky foreigners who are not up on pub etiquette like to socialise in them. They flood across borders to drink in them in the middle east. The buisest bar/pub in nice is an irish pub...barcelona irish pub, dubai any pub, queen mary even has its own pub to cater for british well heeled roughnecks.
> Have to say i do agree with the football sarcasm...wouldnt drive anywhere to watch it myself but would and have driven many miles for a pint in a pub.
> 
> A very good rule of thumb on judging a pub abroad is whether they sell draught guiness and its quality, that and do they show rugby. (bit of a bad point outside of madrid or barcelona i find ) if they do both then it has to be quality. Long live the British Pub, Hoorah!! (oh and Irish)


There are loads of tapas bars in the UK, which leads me to believe there'll be some in other countries too, like Japan judging by the number of Japanese tourists there are in bigger cities...


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## ssbn02 (May 16, 2013)

Pesky Wesky said:


> There are loads of tapas bars in the UK, which leads me to believe there'll be some in other countries too, like Japan judging by the number of Japanese tourists there are in bigger cities...


places selling small plates, yes and not sure about japan as not the type of thing i look for when there, more of a pub man.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

SandraP said:


> Although I have not yet lived anywhere but the UK, when I go abroad I like to find the restaurants the locals use (tend to be the best) and drink in the bars and cafes that local people use. I would not appreciate a bar run with ex-pats in mind when I do move to Spain, my aim for moving to Spain is to try and live life the way the local people do and drink where they frequent so that I can become a part of life in the area I move to rather than set myself apart from local life.
> I am sure that many people move away from UK to move away from the British way of life and not just the weather.


ahhh but when you've lived away from British food for some time you get the occasional craving for real fish n chips & a Sunday Roast with yorkshire puds ... & real steak & ale pies....

not every day - just as a treat now & then


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## ssbn02 (May 16, 2013)

also, what exactly is the british way of life that everyone seems to go on about and want to escape from. i am in spain for two things, the weather which is cooler than the middle east and the food which i do love. thats it. would be interested to know as when i retire i am moving to the uk. apart from the weather it looks more appealing than abroad and it has everything i like, sport, pubs and has to be right up there as the best food in the world now. it is also, other than spain, still a cheap place to live.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

ssbn02 said:


> also, what exactly is the british way of life that everyone seems to go on about and want to escape from. i am in spain for two things, the weather which is cooler than the middle east and the food which i do love. thats it. would be interested to know as when i retire i am moving to the uk. apart from the weather it looks more appealing than abroad and it has everything i like, sport, pubs and has to be right up there as the best food in the world now. it is also, other than spain, still a cheap place to live.


Can I recommend an excellent book, 'Watching the English: the Hidden Rules of English Behaviour' by Kate Fox. It explains precisely what is English about the English and is very funny.
You can probably get a copy on amazon for 1p.
I'd love to chat with you about Afghanistan, would gladly stand you a pint..


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## ssbn02 (May 16, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> Can I recommend an excellent book, 'Watching the English: the Hidden Rules of English Behaviour' by Kate Fox. It explains precisely what is English about the English and is very funny.
> You can probably get a copy on amazon for 1p.
> I'd love to chat with you about Afghanistan, would gladly stand you a pint..


you mentioned a pint, won me over....only guinness though or i drink wine. will check the book out tks.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

It would be great if someone could recreate the sort of pub I used to work and drink in years ago, where 

- people of all ages and backgrounds became social equals as soon as they walked through the door
- the staff knew your name and what your "usual" was
- you could talk to total strangers without them thinking you were trying to pick them up
- the landlord would have a quiet word with anyone who'd had too much and persuade them to leave their car keys behind the bar
- you could put your money on the pool table or your initials on the dartboard and be made welcome
- the beer was immaculate and if for some reason it wasn't, the landlord would change the barrel without argument
- you could argue about any topic under the sun, buy your round and leave as friends

then I would become its most faithful customer.

Am I just romanticising? Is my memory playing tricks on me?


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Wasn't that Cheers?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> Can I recommend an excellent book, 'Watching the English: the Hidden Rules of English Behaviour' by Kate Fox. It explains precisely what is English about the English and is very funny.
> You can probably get a copy on amazon for 1p.
> I'd love to chat with you about Afghanistan, would gladly stand you a pint..


I'm reading that at the moment. I knew Kate Fox in Oxford - she and I worked at the same publishing company for a while, and we were neighbours. 

I know now why she wore inappropriate clothes to work and spent most of her life propping up the bar in our local. She was "doing research". 

But you're right, it is quite amusing.


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## ssbn02 (May 16, 2013)

Alcalaina said:


> It would be great if someone could recreate the sort of pub I used to work and drink in years ago, where
> 
> - people of all ages and backgrounds became social equals as soon as they walked through the door
> - the staff knew your name and what your "usual" was
> ...


now here is a weird thing which covers nearly all the above.

years ago when living in the middle east i was fed up with naff watering holes and johnny foreigner not knowing how we brits revere our greatest institution..the boozer. I bought a bar counter from the uk, old beer pumps. after a few weeks of watching the chaps building my very own bar and the maid, who is still with me here, clean and hang flags in the garden. polish the bar, shelves and strategically place the beer barrel tables!!!! so you elbowed each other as you drank, i had my own little bit of england etc. i then manage to scrounge some beer and gas from the rugby club. what started as a quiet little corner for me and a few friends turned into a busy little private den every weekend...everyone still talks about it and what a great little pub it was. cost me a complete fortune and a marriage but was well worth it. 

it was so popular because of the point above, that and free beer i suppose.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Pazcat said:


> Wasn't that Cheers?


I went in that bar once when I was in Boston, on my own. Nobody spoke to me.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

ssbn02 said:


> places selling small plates, yes and not sure about japan as not the type of thing i look for when there, more of a pub man.


No, tapas bars. Well they say they are tapas bars, but they are just about as authentic as some of the pubs on the costas here!


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## ssbn02 (May 16, 2013)

Pesky Wesky said:


> No, tapas bars. Well they say they are tapas bars, but they are just about as authentic as some of the pubs on the costas here!


couldnt agree with you more, they do say you have had enough of the coast when your fav costa is costa coffee.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Alcalaina said:


> It would be great if someone could recreate the sort of pub I used to work and drink in years ago, where
> 
> - people of all ages and backgrounds became social equals as soon as they walked through the door
> - the staff knew your name and what your "usual" was
> ...


We had a pub like that literally across the street from our cottage. It was called 'The Trowel and Hammer'. A pub had been on that site for hundreds of years.
It had a faithful clientele of locals, mainly 'old boys' and it closed when most of them had died off. My son and his mates used to go there to play darts and snooker in the back room. There was no tv, no music and no hotfood. Although my son and his mates were only sixteen or seventeen Bob, the landlord, allowed them a pint as he knew they would behave and thought it was better for them to be under the watchful eye of the 'old boys' than hanging about with the yobs in the disreputable local cafe.
You could go to work or go out and leave your doorkeys there if the Gas Board or whatever was expected, leave messages and you could take your mum or gran as swearing, spitting etc. was not allowed. Dogs were.
We had one of the best New Year's Eves ever there, went on until the early hours, impromptu entertainment ...and a two minute stagger home across the street to bed.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

George Orwell wrote a short essay about his ideal pub, which he named 'The Moon Under Water'.
But sadly it was only an ideal.


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## ssbn02 (May 16, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> George Orwell wrote a short essay about his ideal pub, which he named 'The Moon Under Water'.
> But sadly it was only an ideal.


Milton keynes, ski dome. 

On the subject of pubs and being a keen but amateur beerhunter, is there a list on this forum listing the best pubs in spain. it is such a large country full of pubs yet few what people have touched on here, good pubs, proper pubs.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

ssbn02 said:


> Milton keynes, ski dome.
> 
> On the subject of pubs and being a keen but amateur beerhunter, is there a list on this forum listing the best pubs in spain. it is such a large country full of pubs yet few what people have touched on here, good pubs, proper pubs.


I don't believe there is

it would be very subjective wouldn't it?

I have to say I was never that bothered about pubs back in the UK

I do have a couple of favourite bars here - where they know my name, how I take my coffee

& what time of year I switch from a brandy in the evening to a V&T


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## ssbn02 (May 16, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> I don't believe there is
> 
> it would be very subjective wouldn't it?
> 
> ...


Very true and would probably cause to many arguments. i have to say i dont go out that much but do enjoy a pint of the black stuff. happy with a brandy, wine and a good malt but just like a pint, especially during the six nations.


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## ssbn02 (May 16, 2013)

Barone said:


> Hi, I'm thinking of starting a bar geared towards expats living in Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia). I'm wondering if you all think of this idea.
> 
> The idea is that English-speaking expats would create a local presence and be part of a larger network of bars in iconic tourist locations.
> 
> Hope to hear from you!!


Hello
after reading thru the forums, living and drinking my way around the world, this thread was of interest. I have a close contact with a chap who I have worked for in the past who happens to own a very large chunk of a large pub group. The group in turn finance different pub arrangements throughout the world. 

They market 90pct of there pubs as Irish Pubs, people picture the irish as friendly, party, river dance etc etc. its sells. British pubs are not marketed as British as that would mean English. England is a bastion of alot of things but its reputation abroad with alcohol is not a good one which in turn means it is easier to get a pub open with an irish tag than a british one with governments, councils etc. This also has a benefit of prices are slightly higher in most irish pubs.

I cant honestly say the last time I went into an English pub. I generally tend to avoid them, however I do and have drank in most Irish pubs in most countries of the world and in my opinion they do attract a different punter. Locals will be more interested in entering an establishment where media has sold it as little green men, party music,irish stew etc as oppose to overweight middle age men drunk on cheap lager that kill each other over a football shirt or accent.

After talking with him and then looking at and back at irish bars i have been to, and still go to, then at english bars i can see where they are coming from.

Both my parents are from eire, i was born along way from the UK and hold a British Passport, I have a southern English accent and consider myself British, not English but i support English Rugby.....confused... I am and judging by the success of irish pubs over english then most of the world is.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Thinking about it..yes, I've seen Irish pubs in Prague, Estepona, Amsterdam, Berlin, Montreal , Ottawa...every place I've been to.There is even an Irish bar/ restaurant in our little village although it's open only in the summer months.
An English bar definitely sends out the wrong vibes.


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