Costa del Sol beach bars are gearing up for a bumper summer

Owners of 'chiringuito' beach bars along Spain's Costa del Sol say that there is no longer such a thing as high season and low season, as tourism extends practically throughout the whole year nowadays. Any given weekend with good weather is high season. However, the summer still holds a very strong position, contributing to the success of the industry along the shores of Malaga province.

The forecasts this year are good, although it is expected that 2025 will not surpass 2024. The president of the Andalusian federation of beach business owners, Manuel Villafaina, believes that 2025 will still be a good summer, despite 2024's dominance.

"We set a record in 2023, but the volume of visits dropped in 2024," said Villafaina, forecasting that the downward trend will continue this year. According to him, the reason can be found in the drop in national tourism. "Normally, 60% of customers would come from Spain during the summer, but now only 30% come," said Villafaina, highlighting that, although "Spaniards rest less", they are an important customer for a sector that generates around 20,000 jobs in the peak summer months in the province of Malaga alone. "There is not a chiringuito with fewer than 20 workers," he said.

"Hotels are already booked up at 80% occupancy - a figure that is expected to rise to 100% in the peak months and on weekends," said the federation's president.

Owner of the Tela Marinera chiringuito in Torremolinos Víctor Jerez has a similar and even better forecast. For the first time since he and his wife bought the bar (which until now has been known as the Jesús y Tere chiringuito) in 2019, the establishment is undergoing a big renovation, hence the name change. "My parents have another one nearby - the chiringuito Antonio y Ana, which has also been running for 30 years," said Víctor, backing up his business decisions with a lot of experience in the sector.

All winter and spring, Tela Marinera has been improving. The chiringuito is now ready to open for this summer. Although the winter's weather has not been favourable for beach businesses, Víctor is confident that the number of customers will be recovered this summer. "We are expecting a strong summer," he said. Contrary to Villafaina, he believes that 2025 will be at least as good as 2024.

When it opens, Tela Marinera will have a completely new design. "The law obliged us to carry out works to change the bathrooms and move them to the upper floor. We took advantage of the obligation to do some work and decided to modernise completely. There are many chiringuitos that have done this," said the owner.

Tela Marinera will now have five-and-a-half-metre ceilings, a larger kitchen and a Mediterranean aesthetic. "All the materials, such as clay and wood, are natural, which makes them blend in well with the beach," said Víctor. His aim is to increase the quality, both aesthetically and in the menu, matching the overall changes that the chiringuitos in Torremolinos are undergoing. "There are many of us, but there is healthy competition: 80% of us offer good quality and tourists continue choosing Torremolinos."

In terms of the main tourist profile, it seems that the British are taking a step back, while Belgian, French and Dutch nationals have started to predominate, alongside Spaniards.

The president of the business owners confirms that many beach bars are modernising and improving. "We are modernising, creating new facilities and adapting to new technologies, which is what tourism wants. There are many chiringuitos that are still under construction, but we will all be open by the end of June," he added.

Regarding adaptation to new technologies, Villafaina stated that advances have been made over the last few years to make it easier for customers to pay or access the menu via QR codes. However, there is also a reflection that the latest technology is not always what works best.

"The QR codes are too cold. We realised that tourists want us to talk to them, to chat, to offer them products that are different from those of their homeland," he said.

The chiringuito La Cubana, in Benalmádena, has managed to become a benchmark in the town due to the volume of customers it receives each year. Located in Carvajal, on the border with Fuengirola, it breaks with the conventional chiringuito model through both its design and menu.

Manager Gloria Cabello forecasts a good summer. "The beginning of the season has been weaker than in previous years. The weather has affected us a lot and we have had a lot of wind and rain, but now that it is beginning to stabilise, we are expecting a lot of visits, both from national and foreign tourists, especially Danish, Dutch and Norwegians, with Spaniards almost always visiting on the weekend," she said.