Mercadona plans outdoor dining, challenging Spain's hospitality sector

Mercadona's Terraces: Self-Service Threatens Bars and Restaurants

If a family cannot afford to eat out for less than 20 euros, their option is often just a sandwich. This is exactly the gap Mercadona aims to exploit with terraces attached to its self-service dining halls. While traditional hospitality raises prices and city councils focus on tourism, the supermarket chain is considering taking prepared food a step further: outdoor tables, full self-service, and bars in its sights.

The Portuguese Mirror: Ten Years of Real Dining in a Supermarket

The model attributed to Mercadona is not new. Pingo Doce has had restaurants inside its supermarkets in Portugal for at least a decade, and not merely as a formality: large halls, staffed service, own catering, and between 8 and 9 daily dishes, including pizzas, salads, and pastas made fresh. Coffee is served and paid for at prices that sound like science fiction in Spain: 0.90 euros, and a sandwich between 1.70 and 2 euros. Water is free. There is no comparison possible with the microwave zones currently offered by many Spanish chains; the comparison with a real restaurant, however, holds up.

The Portuguese reference dismantles the argument that this is just an aisle with two machines. When speaking of self-service terraces, one speaks of an operator competing head-on with the local bar: same coffee, same sandwich, same conversation, but with the cost structure of a large retail surface. And that, in a country where a family eating for 20 euros cannot afford a restaurant, is a missile.

Ready Meals and Administrative Categories: The New Regulatory Battleground

The core issue concerns ready meals (quinta gama), those dishes that arrive on shelves already cooked and only waiting for the microwave. A stream of analysis argues that street food and stall-based food can be hygienic and cheap, but in Spain it is restricted for political and administrative reasons. The proposal gaining traction is to segregate "reheaters" from classic restoration: those who only reheat should have their own label, something like "Reheated Paco," and not compete under the same rules as those who have a kitchen. In passing, this would leave room for vending hot products, automatic salads, and pizzas.

If that line prevails, Mercadona does not enter the war of restaurants; it enters to occupy a new category that still has no name. And traditional hospitality would remain on the other side of the barrier, with regulations designed to protect it and competition that needs no kitchen.

From Necessity to Complaint: Prepared Food Does Not Convince Everyone

Not everything is praise. The quality of these dishes generates serious misgivings: labels with endless ingredients, a tonalidad that more than one dares not describe, and meat with a "very strong" flavor that, according to those who tried it, almost causes nausea. Consumption, however, is sustained. There are stores where the few available tables fill up at certain hours and the prepared food area has a regular clientele. Necessity presses harder than taste.

In Catalonia, Bonpreu/Esclat has already installed counters for prepared food with tables, microwaves, and cutlery. The system, as noted, is moving forward and it is logical that other chains join. The difference between this being a trend or an earthquake will lie in the details: employees, varied dishes, drinks, and desserts. Without that, the terrace remains nothing more than a bench in the supermarket aisle.

Municipal Politics, the Final Judge

One of the harshest arguments in this matter points to city councils: the alliance between hotel and hospitality interests would have pushed the tourist city model, with boosted short-term rentals and expensive popular dining. In that context, a large retail surface installing terraces is not just a commercial decision; it is a challenge to urban planning and to who has the right to serve coffee without paying the toll of a neighborhood bar.

The question remains open: if it works in Portugal with Portuguese prices and starts working in Catalonia, will Spanish bars withstand a Mercadona self-service with terrace, wifi, and supermarket hours? The loser will not be the customer. Or so the numbers say, while mayors decide whether to roll out the red carpet or put a stumbling block.