How does a Bar to Lease work in Spain?

Friday 25th August

Olivia:

Hi,

I am always being asked how a 5-year bar lease works in Spain. (My ideas are based on speaking to other people who have a bar lease for sale, have recently bought a bar lease or who have spoken with a lyer about bar leasing). I certainly no lawyer, but I’ll give you an idea about the rudiments, as far as I understand them:

If you lease a bar you firstly do two things

• You buy all the machines, the fixtures and fittings and, good will and the right to rent and trade from that bar.
• You pay a monthly rent for the use of the freehold property.

The money you pay to buy the lease of the bar is only paid once, when the 5 year period is up, you can simply renew the lease with the freeholder or you can sell the lease to someone else (You have to give the freeholder first refusal if you do decide that you want to sell the bar restaurant lease)

So basically to summarize, you buy the equipment and the fixtures and fittings and the existing clientèle, but you don’t buy the freehold property. This is a cheap way to acquire an already successful business.

As I have said I am not a lawyer and so what I have said is only a rough guide and if you want exact information then of course you should ask a qualified Spanish lawyer who specialises in leasing bar restaurants.