When Lorena opened her specialty café in Viladecans, Barcelona, she knew the numbers would be tight. After a year in business, the reality proved even more demanding than expected: the café brought in €138,000 in revenue, yet only 8% to 9% of that, between €11,040 and €12,420, remained after all expenses. That is roughly €920 to €1,035 a month in net earnings, illustrating how positive sales do not necessarily translate into rapid recovery of the initial investment.
Lorena’s journey began in Bristol, United Kingdom, where she first encountered specialty coffee. After returning to Spain, she trained as a barista, worked in several cafés, and eventually decided to invest in her own venture. The initial outlay was steep: €105,000 covered the transfer of the premises and renovations, along with professional equipment such as a high-end espresso machine, grinders, an oven and dough mixers.
Monthly Revenue and Expenses
On average, the café generated between €11,500 and €12,000 per month. Fixed costs quickly ate into that figure. Rent and staff salaries, plus social security contributions, alone totaled €7,000 to €7,500 monthly. Coffee beans cost about €1,500, while fresh milk added €300. Spending on soft drinks, pastries and other ingredients brought total monthly outgoings to €9,000 to €10,000. These figures are consistent with the cost pressures described across Spain’s hospitality sector: Hostelería de España has put merchandise costs at close to 40% of revenue and personnel at about 33%, leaving a final margin in the single digits.
The business’s break-even point was set at €470 per day. Any day with lower sales meant the café was operating at a loss. Lorena noted that even with steady foot traffic, the margin for error was slim. Turnover also needs to be understood alongside tax and input costs: Spanish restaurant services apply a 10% VAT rate, while sector reporting put the average 2025 menu price at €14.20 and said average ticket prices rose 2.5%, below sector inflation of 4.6%. Meanwhile, coffee prices rose sharply during the cited 2025 period, adding pressure to a business built around specialty beans.
Licensing Hurdles and Investment Risks
Securing the right license proved more complicated than anticipated. The premises originally had a bakery license, not a café license, which restricted the number of tables allowed. Lorena had to handle additional bureaucracy and pay extra fees to adapt the license to her business model. Activity permissions and capacity requirements are handled locally and depend on the premises’ classification, so administrative steps can affect a café’s startup budget along with renovation and equipment costs. Despite these challenges, she repaid her bank loan within the first year, though she had yet to recover her personal savings. Her initial estimate was that, if sales remained stable, it would take about three years to recoup the investment fully; later reporting by El Español put the projected recovery period at about five years.
Staffing is another continuing pressure for small hospitality businesses. Lorena described contacting 15 people and arranging interviews with nine, but only one candidate attended. A Makro survey of hospitality professionals found that 57% reported serious hiring difficulties, while 64% said they personally took on extra hours or work to cover vacancies. That can leave owners carrying more of the daily workload.
Margins: Coffee vs. Pastries
While coffee is the star attraction, it is not the most profitable item. Each espresso cost Lorena about €0.55 and sold for €1.80, leaving a gross margin of €1.25 before overheads. Homemade cookies, by contrast, yielded a 40% margin, while commercial croissants reached 55%. During winter, daily cookie sales could hit 70 units, dropping to 10 to 20 in the summer months. Lorena initially sourced some doughs from a bakery but soon shifted to in-house production, upgrading her mixers to boost output.
Social Media and Daily Demands
Instagram and TikTok became impressive tools for attracting customers. A video posted during the café’s opening drew a line out the door, and each new post about cookies or cinnamon rolls sparked fresh demand. Lorena’s workday started at 7 a.m. as she prepared coffee and pastries while managing the kitchen. Despite having staff, she remained deeply involved in daily operations. The café was open six days a week.
Brand Evolution and Broader Context
The café launched as Bristol Koffee and rebranded as Yellow Specialty Koffee in February 2026, remaining at the same Viladecans address. The financial figures Lorena shared reflect her first year in business, offering a rare, transparent look at the economics of Spain’s independent coffee sector. Later reporting put monthly sales at about €12,000, with total expenses reaching as much as €10,000, and described a five-year investment recovery horizon.
Her experience echoes the challenges faced by many small business owners in Spain, where high fixed costs and regulatory hurdles can make profitability elusive. Stories of entrepreneurial grit, such as the journey of a top-rated Cabify driver in Madrid, highlight the persistence required to carve out a place in the Spanish service industry.
For those considering a similar path, Lorena’s experience shows that passion and preparation matter, alongside a clear-eyed understanding of the financial realities behind the counter.
