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Guide summary
- To conduct a good restaurant market research, you need to analyze the restaurant market in Spain, study local demand, and analyze the competition.
- The market research is the step that determines whether your project has real viability before investing a single euro.
- In Spain, concepts with a clear and differentiated gastronomic proposition hold up better than venues without a defined specialty. That is why choosing your restaurant type strategically is so important.
- Knowing the profile of your local customer (their habits, budget, and motivations) is just as important as analyzing the national market.
Table of contents
You have a restaurant idea. Maybe you even have a name for it. But do you know if there is enough demand in the area you have in mind? Do you know your direct competitors? Have you analyzed the profile of your future customers? If the answer to any of these questions is "no" or "more or less," you may be missing a restaurant market study. It is the step that turns a good idea into a viable project. We explain how to conduct a complete market analysis: what to analyze? In what order? With what sources?
Key figures
- 30.5% of Spaniards eat out 2 to 3 times a month (1)
- Nearly 40% of the average Spanish restaurant's revenue is concentrated in just 4 months (June to September) (2)
- Bars remain the dominant format, with 163,890 establishments (53.2% of the total). Restaurants account for 83,714 venues, and grew 3.2% in 2024 (3)
- 266,837 active food service establishments in Spain with a sector revenue of 116,193 million euros, 4.7% of national GDP (3)
Why conduct a market research before opening a restaurant?
With more than 308,000 hospitality businesses, Spain is the second European country in restaurant consumption. More bars and restaurants per capita than almost any other country in the world (except Slovakia, which has held the top spot since 2024). This means the competition is already there before you even open your doors.
Restaurant market research is what allows you to understand that landscape before investing (whether it is a new venue or a business acquisition). This analytical work tells you whether your idea has real viability in a specific area, with a specific customer profile, against specific competition.
A good market analysis allows you to:
- Validate your concept Is there real demand for a vegetarian restaurant in your neighborhood? Or is the market already saturated with fast food restaurants within 500 meters?
- Know your customer What are their habits, budget, motivations, and barriers?
- Identify opportunities Is there an uncovered niche, an unattended time slot, a type of cuisine that doesn't exist in the area?
- Reduce risk: in 2023, 34,247 hospitality establishments closed in Spain. Many of these closures share a common origin: decisions made without sufficient information.
- Build your business plan: the market research is the foundation on which everything else rests: revenue forecasts, pricing strategy, positioning, legal procedures, … .
Restaurant market research does not guarantee success. No analysis does. But it gives you the tools to make informed decisions, adjust your proposition before launching, and present a solid project to investors or financial institutions.
How to conduct a market research for your restaurant?
For a restaurant market research to be useful, it must be structured. It is not about gathering scattered data from the internet and drawing hasty conclusions. It is about following a logical process that gives you a complete view of the market before making any decision.
1. Analyzing the restaurant market in Spain
The starting point of any market analysis is understanding the sector as a whole. First at a national scale: what trends are shaping the Spanish hospitality industry? What formats are growing? What challenges do restaurateurs face? And then at a local scale, in the area where you want to set up.
Here are the key questions and what sector data tells us today.
How is the restaurant sector evolving in Spain?
In 2025, the restaurant sector maintains solid growth, though moderate. Revenue grew 3.1% between January and September compared to 2024, but business margins remain under pressure, with a profitability decline of 0.9%. Rising raw material costs, fiscal pressure, and a declining average ticket are the main factors explaining this situation.
What types of restaurants dominate the Spanish market?
| Type of establishment | No. of venues | % of total |
| Bars | 163,890 | 53.2% |
| Restaurants and cafeterias | 83,714 | 27.2% |
| Collective catering | 19,233 | 6.2% |
Bars remain the dominant format, although they are the ones that have grown the least (+0.2%). Restaurants, on the other hand, recorded the greatest dynamism with a 3.2% increase compared to 2023.
What concepts are growing in Spain?
The Spanish market is not homogeneous. While some formats stagnate, others are gaining ground strongly:
- Fast food restaurants remain the most dynamic segment: in 2024 they reached a revenue of 5.865 billion euros, with a growth of +6.3% compared to the previous year.
- Delivery and take away already represent 22% of restaurant sales in Spain. Compared to 12% before the pandemic. In 2023, takeaway accounted for 13% of sales and delivery for 9%.
- 75% of establishments are independent and 25% belong to chains or franchises.
How much is the Spanish customer willing to spend at a restaurant?
Knowing the average ticket of the Spanish consumer is key to defining your pricing policy and estimating your margins from day one.
The vast majority of Spaniards operate within a moderate spending range: 55.7% spend between €15 and €30 per person per visit, and 28.6% between €31 and €50. Only 7.5% exceed €50 per diner.
These data are useful for validating your concept. If your cost structure forces you to set prices above €50, you are targeting a segment that represents less than 8% of regular consumers.
Where to find reliable data on the national market?
- INE — National Institute of Statistics: data on establishments, employment, and household spending
- Hostelería España: annual sector report
- CaixaBank Research: consumer analysis and trends
- Datos.gob.es
- Sector Observatory
2. Analyzing demand
Who is your future customer?
Knowing the national market is the starting point. But what determines the success or failure of your restaurant is what happens in your specific area:
- Who lives in your area and what is their socioeconomic profile? The INE publishes data by municipality and census section: average population age, education level, average household income, employment rate. An area with high average income and a population aged between 35 and 55 has a very different consumption profile from a university neighborhood or a coastal tourist area.
- How often does your potential customer eat out? 59.6% of Spaniards eat out at least twice a month. 29.1% do so more than three times — that is, at least once a week. But these figures vary significantly depending on demographic profile and location. In urban and tourist areas, the frequency is notably higher.
- What type of restaurant best fits your area? Not all concepts work in all contexts. A seafood restaurant works better in coastal areas or in cities with a strong maritime tradition. A vegetarian restaurant has more potential in urban neighborhoods with a young, educated population. A Mexican food restaurant or other international cuisines gain traction in tourist areas and in large cities with diversified demand.
The key is to match your concept with the real profile of your venue's catchment area. Not the one you imagine.
How to gather information directly in the field?
Secondary sources (INE, CIS, sector reports) give you the general context. But to truly get to know your local customer, you need primary sources: information you gather yourself through a restaurant market research questionnaire. This can be done in the area of influence of your future venue, on social media, in local Facebook groups, in neighborhood communities, or through your network of contacts in the area.
3. Analyzing supply
The competition analysis is the part of the hospitality market research that allows you to identify what space you can occupy, and which ones are already too saturated.
What types of competition exist?
Before starting to analyze, it is useful to distinguish between two types of competitors:
- Direct competition: restaurants with a concept similar to yours, in the same area and targeting the same customer profile. If you want to open a restaurant specializing in seafood in the center of Valencia, your direct competition are the other seafood restaurants in the neighborhood.
- Indirect competition: establishments that, without being the same type, compete for the same consumption moment. A nearby fast food restaurant can be indirect competition for a set-menu restaurant if both target weekday lunch.
What to analyze about each competitor?
For each relevant competitor, gather information on these points:
- Gastronomic offer: type of cuisine, menu breadth, special options (vegetarian, gluten-free, children's menu…)
- Pricing policy : average ticket, set menu price, perceived value for money
- Occupancy and footfall: at what times are they full? Is there a waiting list? Do they do a lot of delivery?
- Digital presence: rating on Google Maps and TripAdvisor, number of reviews, social media activity
- Strengths and weaknesses: what do customers say in reviews (both the positives and recurring complaints).
That last point is especially valuable. The negative reviews of your competition are an X-ray of the needs they are not meeting. That is where your opportunity may lie.
What tools to use to analyze the competition?
You do not need a large budget. These sources are free and very useful:
- Google Maps : search by restaurant type and area, ratings, hours, photos, and customer reviews
- TripAdvisor : local ranking, detailed scores by category (food, service, value for money, atmosphere)
- Instagram and social media: publication frequency, engagement, type of content, and audience response
- DIRCE / INE : number of active establishments by municipality and economic activity (CNAE 56)
What signals indicate that an area is saturated?
There are indicators worth detecting before committing to a venue:
- High density of same-type restaurants within a small radius
- Low average ratings throughout the area (a sign of a low-demand market or oversupply)
- Frequent venue turnover. If in the same space multiple restaurants have opened and closed in a few years, it is worth investigating why.
- Very tight margins in the sector due to price wars between competitors
This phenomenon is especially visible in coastal tourist areas and in the historic centers of major cities like Madrid or Barcelona, where the density of supply is very high and competition for the tourist customer is fierce.
Is your market research ready? Now manage your restaurant with the tool used by thousands of restaurateurs in Spain.
FAQ
How much does it cost to conduct a market research before opening a restaurant?
It depends on the depth of the analysis. A basic study (using free secondary sources such as INE, CIS, Hostelería Annuary, and your own online surveys) can be done at no cost. A study commissioned from a specialized consulting firm can range from €2,000 to €10,000 depending on scope. For most independent projects, a self-managed study with the right sources is sufficient.
What regulations should I know before opening a restaurant in Spain?
Before opening your gastronomic venue, you must obtain the activity license, complete the mandatory training courses, understand the VAT applicable to restaurants, comply with accessibility and noise regulations, … Bear in mind that regulations vary depending on the autonomous community and municipality. Always consult with the Chamber of Commerce in your province or with a specialist in hospitality management.
How to conduct a restaurant market research survey?
First, define the objective of the survey. Do you want to validate your concept, find out the average ticket your audience accepts, or identify what is missing in the area? From there, design between 8 and 12 questions. Combine closed questions to obtain quantifiable data with some open questions to capture nuances. Apply the survey in the area of influence of your future venue: on the street, on geographically segmented social media, or in local groups.
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