26 Degrees in the Shade . . .

Gaining an Opening License for a Bar or Restaurant in Spain

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When you buy a bar or restaurant, it must have a valid current Opening license (Licescia de Apetura), if it doesn’t have this then it is not a legally established business and you will not be allowed to open for trading.

When a business is not properly licensed for the exact commercial activity in which it is engaged, it has no value and can be shut down following an inspection at any time.

There are plenty of people trying to sell businesses, which don’t have a license, so please be very careful to inspect the opening license before you negotiate to buy the business.

When you find a bar that you like you must ask to see both the Opening License and the Fiscal License.

Make sure that the license is recently issued. A business with a recently issued Opening License will have been inspected in great detail before the Commercial Dept issued the license.

During this inspection the department would have checked that every aspect of the fabric of the business meets the new EU Health and Safety standards.

All the main installations are checked, and technical drawings signed off by the College of Architects in Malaga must be provided. In addition to the technical drawings you are required to provide a (Boletin) which is a certificate guaranteeing the standard of workmanship. The Boletin can only be issued by a fully qualified tradesman (so an owner who has done say the plumbing himself, will not be able to get a Boletin to show that the work has been conducted to the high standard which are now expected), and Boletins are required for th :

• Plumbing
• Electrical
• Gas installations
• Extraction system
• Also the premises must have disabled access and disabled toilet facilities

Correct layout of the kitchen and the condition of ALL kitchen equipment is checked. The physical layout of the working areas and public areas plus emergency lighting, fire extinguishers and fire exits are also checked against the latest EU standards.

An Opening License can be granted on one of three levels:

• Bar
• Cafeteria
• Restaurant

If you buy a business without the appropriate and recently issued license, you could be looking at completely rebuilding the interior of the premises. You could also have to wait up to 18 months for the license to be issued and you are allowed to open for trading.

Well all this sounds dreadful, doesn’t it? So what’s the way round getting involved in all this?

Simple! Buy a bar, cafeteria or restaurant like mine, which has had all this work done and has a new opening license for a Restaurant, which is ready to transfer to the new owner and this is a quick and simple process.

I hope that this post has been useful to you.

Friends, Family, Visitors and Your Business in Spain

Dealing with Family and Visitors Whilst Running Your Spanish Bar or Restaurant

When you first leave the UK and its cold windy climate with its short winter days, you’ll be inundated with family and friends who want to come and visit you in Spain. They’ll want to combine their visit with seeing the sights and soaking up our wonderful 3oo days per year of blue skies and sunshine.

As you cannot run a business unless you are able to focus, some of the tips I’ve learned over the years may be very useful to help you to deal with this inevitable situation.

During our first year in the bar we had no experience of separating our business commitment from our social life and consequently we received a lot of visitors in the summer and ended up waiting on them hand and foot. Visitors never appreciate just how important it is for you to work hard at your business during the main season, so YOU have to educate them.

• Firstly when you get your first call.” We have found a cheap flight and would really like to come and stay with you weeks. You must say straight away without hesitation:
  1. I think we are pretty much booked up for that period. The last 2 weeks in October would be great. (You are not doing this to be nasty, but just like running an office or any other business, you will need all your time and effort to run your bar restaurant.)
  2. We don’t cook at home, as we have a restaurant so we suggest that you’d be a lot more comfortable in the local hotel, which is only three star and you can book it really cheap if you do it well in advance through the Internet.
  3. You’ll need to rent a car from: www.carjet.com, as you can’t do anything here without a car and they are really cheap. (And as we work long hours we just won’t be able to run you around.).

Now you’ll almost certainly want to put this to your family and friends with a greater degree of subtlety, but beware, as subtlety can and often is seen as synonymous with weakness. Let you no be no!

Never ever agree to receive anybody in July or August, as this is your really busy time and you won’t have a spare minute to devote to them.

When your visitors come to your bar always make sure that an employee serves them they are given a bill just like anybody else. Of course you can invite them occupationally, but your regulars will take umbrage if you operate a dual system where most people are expected to pay whilst some people that you value more are not. Never forget that your regulars perceive themselves to be your best customers and they are in the context of your business. You cannot mix business with pleasure; it will get you into deep water every time.

Nobody wants to have to put their business before the people that they love, but if you want your bar to succeed you must. You can make the odd exception to this rule, but please, please never in August.

Follow these guidelines as best you can and you won’t go far wrong.