A recent article in The Times suggested that the menú del día is “threatened by modern life”, and since then media outlets across Spain have been agreeing that their go-to lunch menu could be facing its end.
Menús del día are an integral part of Spanish dining culture and have been since the 1960s, but could they be about to come to an end?
The menú del día is typically a set three course lunch deal, usually only available Monday to Fridays in the middle of the day. People usually begin eating around 2pm, but if they have the time, it can even extend until 5pm.
The set menu includes several choices for starters, mains and a dessert or coffee, highlighting some of the most typical dishes from the region, as well as Spanish classics.
The menú del día was invented during the Franco regime to showcase Spanish gastronomy to tourists at an affordable price, but since then it has become a favourite for workers to enjoy an inexpensive meal in the middle of the day.
The Spanish Hospitality Association estimates that around four million are served every day across the country.
The secrets of El Menú del Día: The surprising story behind Spain’s fixed-price lunch menu
A recent article in The Times suggested that the menú del día is “threatened by modern life”, and since then media outlets across Spain have been agreeing that their beloved lunch menu could be facing its end.
According to the Spanish Hospitality Association in 2024, the average cost of a menú del día in Spain was around €14, although there are cities where this figure is considerably higher.
In Bilbao, for example, the average was €15.50 and in Barcelona it was €15.10.
With inflation over the last few years and the big increase in prices of raw ingredients, many restaurant owners are claiming that they make a bigger profit on breakfast of coffee and toasts than they do on the menú del día.
To be successful a menu must offer a range of interesting and enticing dishes and a certain amount of variety, but it must also be a good deal and be affordable – that is key for customers. But these days it’s becoming harder and harder for restaurants to do this, whilst also making a certain level of profit.
Advertisement
Prices of the set lunch time meal increased by 19.5 percent between 2016 and 2024 from €11.70 to €14.
The hospitality industry points out, however, that this increase is still below the general consumer price index (23.4 percent) and is much lower than the increase individual key ingredients such as olive oil.
Between 2023 and 2024, menu prices did rise above the general price index though. Despite this increase – around €0.80 – many restaurateurs are struggling to keep their businesses afloat with these offerings.
Recent data shows that 42.3 percent of restaurant owners reported having experienced a “loss of profitability” over the past year, primarily due to rising wages, food costs, and supplies.
By the end of 2024, nearly a third of restaurants – 32.5 percent – also admitted that they had not increased their daily menu prices that year.
Newspaper El País interviewed a restaurant owner in Vigo recently who told them that he needs to be able to sell at least 40 menus a day to keep the price below €15, anything under that and it will only cover the cost of ingredients.
Advertisement
Could rising prices mean the end of the menú del día as we know it?
Paco Cruz, known in the industry as The Food Manager who advises restaurants, is clear that the set-menu formula is not sustainable. “It’s totally in danger because it’s not a sustainable model for the restaurant industry,” he explained to El País.
Although the set menus are still popular not all workers can afford one every day at these prices or necessarily have the time to eat them, if they’re only given an hour for lunch, so restaurants are rarely completely full during a weekday lunchtime.
While they could survive in the past only having a place half full, with the current prices it’s no longer sustainable and they are having to sell many more menus to even make a profit.
As a result, could we see more restaurants ditching the menú del día in favour of simply a la carte options? If this happens a big piece of Spanish food culture will have disappeared.
