Food and drink

Costa Tropical beach bar: 'We keep the business going thanks to the family’s hard work'

At the Piliki beach bar in Almuñécar, they get through the summer season thanks to the support of their friends and family as recruiting temporary but qualified staff is becoming more difficult each year

MJ Arrebola

Granada

23/07/2026 a las 13:30h.

Every summer, beach bars (chiringuitos) along the Andalusian coast face the challenge of finding enough temporary but qualified staff. Many family-run businesses manage to ... get through the season thanks to their children, nephews and nieces and siblings, who put their studies on hold for a few months to lend a hand.

The Piliki beach bar in Almuñécar on Granada province's Costa Tropical is one such business. It has been a firm favourite among locals and visitors for 50 years and sardine chef (espetero) Manuel Mingorance has been in charge of the grill for as long as the chiringuito has been open.

What makes Piliki unique is that, while other beachside businesses struggle to recruit extra staff during the peak months of the year, here the staff are divided between the two beach bars they run, thanks to the family.

“I’ve had to bring in my son, who’s preparing for the police entrance exams and my nephew as well,” explains Germán Mingorance, owner of the Piliki beach bar. Both have training in the hospitality industry as they come from a family involved in the sector. “We’d rather not have to rely on young people who are studying just to get through the summer,” he admits.

At the bar, everyone has a role: at Playa de Calabajío, in Playa Cálida, it is Germán himself who is the espetero. Working alongside him are his sons Pablo and Mariano, both of whom are waiters, while Izan works in the kitchen and Raúl tends the bar, serving drinks. There are six of them in total.

At San Cristóbal beach, the other branch, his niece Coral is in charge of the kitchen, his nephew Carlos serves drinks at the bar and his sister-in-law Vanesa looks after the tables. They are joined by his brothers Francis and Marcos, the 'espeteros', a trade they learnt from their father. “We keep the business going thanks to the family’s hard work,” Germán says.

They have the advantage of coming from a family with a long tradition in the hospitality industry, which means that their children and nephews are already well-trained: “They’ve all completed their hospitality training courses,” says Germán.

The owner is aware that the hospitality industry does not appeal to young people who have never had any first-hand experience of the trade. In his own words, young people in the area would rather enjoy the beach in summer than work there and that is "a problem".