Spain has always loved its coffee. But a new generation of cafés is swapping the traditional bitter brew for speciality beans, unusual flavours and some rather inventive brewing methods.
The question is, will you pay extra for it?
There are few things more Spanish than popping into your local bar for a café con leche.
You order, exchange a few words with the person behind the counter, drink your coffee and get on with your day.
No lengthy explanation about where the beans were grown. No discussion about tasting notes. And certainly no need to know what a V60 is.
But Spain’s coffee culture is changing.
According to a new report from coffee industry publication Perfect Daily Grind, Spain is becoming one of Europe’s most exciting markets for speciality coffee.
And it is happening precisely because the country has been a little late to the party.
What’s so special about speciality coffee?
Speciality coffee focuses on the quality of the beans, where they come from, how they are roasted and how the drink is prepared.
Instead of relying on a traditional dark roast, cafés might offer beans from a particular farm in Colombia or Ethiopia, with flavours that range from chocolate and nuts to fruit and flowers.
Some cafés are experimenting with cold brews, iced coffees and different brewing techniques.
It is coffee with a little more attention to detail.
Spain already has a head start
Spain certainly does not need teaching how to enjoy a coffee break.
The country has an extraordinary number of bars and cafés, and sitting down for a coffee is part of everyday life.
According to World Coffee Portal’s research, 80% of Spanish consumers surveyed drink hot coffee every day.
The country’s branded coffee-shop market also grew by 3% in the year to April 2025, reaching 2,215 outlets.
That figure covers branded chains, not every independent café or neighbourhood bar.
The interesting part is that speciality coffee arrived later in Spain than in countries such as Britain and Germany.
This means there is still room for independent cafés and small coffee roasters to experiment without competing in an already crowded market.
Tourists are helping change the menu
Spain welcomed a record 96.8 million international tourists in 2025.
Many arrive from countries where speciality coffee is already well established, bringing their taste for flat whites, cold brews and carefully prepared espresso with them.
That creates an opportunity for Spanish cafés, particularly in tourist destinations.
Here on the Costa Blanca, where Spanish residents and international visitors share the same cafés, it is easy to see why businesses might want to offer something beyond the traditional café solo or cortado.
But there is one rather important obstacle.
Would you pay €3 for a café con leche?
A normal café con leche in a Spanish bar might cost around €1 to €2, depending on where you are.
At some speciality coffee shops, the same type of drink can cost €3 or more.
That extra euro might not sound enormous, but it adds up if you enjoy a coffee every morning.
The challenge for speciality cafés is convincing customers that better-quality beans, careful roasting and expert preparation justify the higher price.
There is also competition from Spain’s traditional coffee culture, including torrefacto, a roasting method involving sugar that produces a particularly dark, bitter flavour.
Could the Costa Blanca become part of the coffee revolution?
There is certainly potential.
The region has a mixture of Spanish customers, international residents and tourists, all with different expectations of what makes a good cup of coffee.
But the traditional Spanish bar has something speciality cafés cannot manufacture with expensive equipment.
Familiarity.
The person behind the counter remembers your order, someone is discussing football at the next table, and nobody minds if you sit for a while.
That is part of the pleasure of drinking coffee in Spain.
The most successful new cafés may be those that combine better-quality coffee with the relaxed, friendly atmosphere people already love.
Bridging the Gap’s recap
- What’s happening? Spain’s speciality coffee market is expanding, with more independent cafés, small roasters and innovative drinks.
- What is speciality coffee? Higher-quality coffee with greater attention to the beans, their origin, roasting and preparation.
- Why is Spain catching up now? The trend arrived later than in Britain and Germany, leaving room for new businesses to grow.
- How popular is coffee in Spain? World Coffee Portal found that 80% of Spanish consumers surveyed drink hot coffee daily.
- Are coffee shops growing? Spain’s branded coffee-shop market grew 3% to 2,215 outlets in the year to April 2025.
- What is driving the trend? Tourism, changing tastes and growing interest in better-quality coffee.
- What’s the biggest obstacle? Price. Many customers are reluctant to pay considerably more than they would at their usual bar.
- What does it mean for the Costa Blanca? More opportunities for cafés to offer speciality drinks alongside the traditional Spanish favourites.
Coffee culture in Spain: Wake up and smell the cortado
