Pablo Iglesias' Madrid bar charges €3 beer, €9 cocktails
Former Spanish VP Pablo Iglesias opens a Madrid tavern with €3 beers and €9 cocktails. Critics claim over 90% margins on beer prices.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Pablo Iglesias' Madrid bar charges €3 beer, €9 cocktails
The menu of the tavern peine by the former Spanish Deputy Prime Minister in Madrid is circulating online, quickly becoming this week's most profitable target for ridicule. Prices are as trinc: all cocktails at €9, beers at €3, starters between €7 and €11, and mains between €10 and €12. No dish costs less than €7. For a venue billed as a traditional tavern that honors Durruti with a cocktail, the math doesn't add up to the narrative.
The first calculation making the rounds concerns beer. Producing one liter of kegged beer costs around €0.70, while typical brewpub selling prices range from €6 to €12 per liter. Serving a draft beer at €3 leaves a margin exceeding 90% according to this calculation. The conclusion drawn is swift but debatable: if the product costs less than 10% of the price charged, someone is making a fortune. This figure ignores staff, rent, licenses, waste, and other overheads, but the raw number grabs attention.
Is eating in Madrid for €12 expensive?
The answer depends on who you compare it to. Some argue that €10 or €12 for a main course in Madrid is outright cheap, and complainers are just broke. Others counter that the tavern markets itself as a working-class space yet charges like any city-center franchise. A quote often cited to summarize this tension is Kautsky's: "Taverns are the last bastion of proletarian freedom." Some suggest amending the quote: some taverns are, this one isn't, with its €3 beers.
According to one circulating analysis, the venue pays no rent. If true, the prices don't even cover basic costs, suggesting the business acts as a front. Suspicions of money laundering appear repeatedly, without evidence, as they always do with famous owners and opaque cash registers. Another view argues the opposite: prices reflect market rates dictated by the location, and right-wing owners wouldn't face such outrage.
The clientele who come and those who don't
The expected customers aren't locals. They're described as affluent bourgeoisie, people dining out once and never returning, and curious tourists taking photos for social media. The most common prediction is closure within a month, once the novelty fades. The opposing view suggests survival precisely because it doesn't rely on park-dwelling stoners, but on rowers inviting friends out occasionally.
The debate has also shifted to employees. Do they earn €3,000 monthly with exact 8-hour shifts? Or €50 an hour for 20 weekly hours? No pay stubs have been released. The question lingers as rhetorical ammunition: if the bar belongs to the people, it should show in their wages, not just the slogan.
The sticking point remains unchanged: nobody has seen the profit and loss statement, payroll records, or lease agreement. Only the menu. And with just the menu, anything can be defended in Madrid.
The menu of the tavern peine by the former Spanish Deputy Prime Minister in Madrid is circulating online, quickly becoming this week's most profitable target for ridicule. Prices are as trinc: all cocktails at €9, beers at €3, starters between €7 and €11, and mains between €10 and €12. No dish costs less than €7. For a venue billed as a traditional tavern that honors Durruti with a cocktail, the math doesn't add up to the narrative.
The first calculation making the rounds concerns beer. Producing one liter of kegged beer costs around €0.70, while typical brewpub selling prices range from €6 to €12 per liter. Serving a draft beer at €3 leaves a margin exceeding 90% according to this calculation. The conclusion drawn is swift but debatable: if the product costs less than 10% of the price charged, someone is making a fortune. This figure ignores staff, rent, licenses, waste, and other overheads, but the raw number grabs attention.
Is eating in Madrid for €12 expensive?
The answer depends on who you compare it to. Some argue that €10 or €12 for a main course in Madrid is outright cheap, and complainers are just broke. Others counter that the tavern markets itself as a working-class space yet charges like any city-center franchise. A quote often cited to summarize this tension is Kautsky's: "Taverns are the last bastion of proletarian freedom." Some suggest amending the quote: some taverns are, this one isn't, with its €3 beers.
According to one circulating analysis, the venue pays no rent. If true, the prices don't even cover basic costs, suggesting the business acts as a front. Suspicions of money laundering appear repeatedly, without evidence, as they always do with famous owners and opaque cash registers. Another view argues the opposite: prices reflect market rates dictated by the location, and right-wing owners wouldn't face such outrage.
The clientele who come and those who don't
The expected customers aren't locals. They're described as affluent bourgeoisie, people dining out once and never returning, and curious tourists taking photos for social media. The most common prediction is closure within a month, once the novelty fades. The opposing view suggests survival precisely because it doesn't rely on park-dwelling stoners, but on rowers inviting friends out occasionally.
The debate has also shifted to employees. Do they earn €3,000 monthly with exact 8-hour shifts? Or €50 an hour for 20 weekly hours? No pay stubs have been released. The question lingers as rhetorical ammunition: if the bar belongs to the people, it should show in their wages, not just the slogan.
The sticking point remains unchanged: nobody has seen the profit and loss statement, payroll records, or lease agreement. Only the menu. And with just the menu, anything can be defended in Madrid.
Also available in: Deutsch
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (133 replies).
More summaries
-
Margallo claims 'Yes is Yes' law was Sánchez's plot against Podemos
Margallo argues before Calvo and Iglesias that Sánchez let the 'Yes is Yes' law fail to damage Podemos.
-
Iglesias Presses Díaz to Lift Veto on Montero Amid List Dispute
Pablo Iglesias urges Yolanda Díaz to reverse her ban on Irene Montero, escalating an internal power struggle over electoral lists.
-
Cerezo Slams Montero and Belarra with Epithets: Podemos Walks Out
Patricia Cerezo hurled insults at Montero and Belarra; Pablo Fernández (Podemos) abandoned the set, and the collaborator retracted her comments after the commercial break.
-
Far-left activists escorted by police after stone-throwing in Ceuta
Far-left group arrives in Spanish enclave Ceuta to protest refugee treatment, facing hostile reception and requiring police escort.
-
Spain's Business Degree: Management Promise vs. Low-Pay Reality
Debate on ADE degrees in Spain contrasts claims of low pay and long hours with arguments for versatility.
-
Hard Work Doesn't Pay Rent: Divisive Thesis
A 35-year-old worker argues effort without efficiency is useless, claiming savings allow a minimal lifestyle. The debate over meritocracy continues.