Guide To Spanish Eating Habits and Food Customs
Spanish dining habits and times can take you by surprise if you don’t get some information about them before you come to Spain. After all, when traveling, food is one of the most important things to plan, and often meals and eating habits change from country to country (or even from city to city!).
Many times during my Barcelona tours people ask me how Spanish meals work, and when to go to a restaurant to find locals and what’s appropriate to order. And the truth is that the information out there is mixed up and often it’s written by foreigners or ex-pats that don’t quite get the real reason of why we do things the way we do them (or even the subtle differences between two Spain food customs that might look similar…). So if you don’t want to learn as you go, today I’m sharing with you the way Spanish people REALLY eat and how to adapt.
Spanish eating customs you need to be aware of:
1
Breakfast
WHAT? Coffee, tea, milk (plain, sweetened or with cocoa) or juice, with toast topped with butter and jam, or nutella, or cheese or ham. People also do cookies (Maria or Digestive), "magdalena" muffins, croissants or other pastries, fruit or cereals.
HOW MUCH FOOD? Despite the Spanish adagio that recommends to “Have breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a prince and dine like a beggar”, most Spaniards don’t have a big breakfast. It’s one drink and one solid from the list above and you are good to go. Although in the weekends we might splurge a bit more. And then that might also include hot chocolate with churros!
WHERE? Most people have breakfast at home before leaving for work or school, but some people prefer to do that at a local cafeteria, bar or bakery on their way. You’ll rarely see people on the streets sipping on their coffee to go, though. We love to seat down, even if for just a few minutes. When in a hurry, we have our coffee by the bar counter (which sometimes is cheaper than if you are seating at a table). BTW, these are my favorite breakfast places in Barcelona.
Breakfast survival tips
ANY CHANCE OF ENGLISH BREAKFAST? That’s rare in Spain. If you are into eggs and sausages and they don’t include them in your hotel breakfast buffet, the closest alternative is a French omelet baguette sandwich, served in most bars. Sausages are harder to find, though. And definitely not beans (except some brunch restaurants, see below).
CAN I HAVE BRUNCH, THEN? I’m afraid brunch is a hipster kind of thing. There is no “typical Spanish” alternative to brunch, but now you can find American-style brunch spots in most large cities in Spain… and mostly on Sunday. These are the top brunch spots in Barcelona.
WHAT IS A ESMORZAR DE FORQUILLA? That’s a Catalan type of breakfast that could almost qualify as an early heavy lunch… It’s basically a seat-down breakfast where you’ll eat an earthy stew, or other elaborated Catalan recipe that requires cutlery to eat it. While not common in the rest of Spain, here is where you can find the best “esmorzar de forquilla” in Barcelona.
HEY, BUT WHAT ABOUT CHURROS? Yes, OK. Churros can be a breakfast (or merienda – see below) thing. But they are NOT an everyday thing: it’s a weekend kind of breakfast, and I’d even say a festive “once in a while” kind of thing. Eating them at home means frying them (messy) or going to your closest churreria to get a cone beforehand. That takes time! And while some cafeterias they may have churros for breakfast (specially in Madrid), in most cases you’ll have to go to specific churro places for them. So not something we can do every day, unfortunately. Here are my favorite Barcelona churros with hot chocolate.
2
Midday snack, coffee break or tentempié
WHAT? Coffee probably more than tea, and maybe a sandwich, a bakery or bun, a piece of fruit or some other snack.
There’s two main reasons for Spanish people to eat a midday snack. One is hunger: Assuming you had an early (small) breakfast and won’t eat lunch until 2PM or later, you are likely to be hungry at some point. For instance, kids at school during their 30 minute recess they’ll eat the bite they brought from home. That helps them to keep going until lunchtime. That’s why some people call snacks a tentempié (a word that is also used for roly-poly toys).
The other reason is needing a break, and that applies mostly to adults. Most people will take a quick 10-minute break to get a coffee or non-alcoholic drink. Such break might or not involve solid food. BTW, you’ll want to learn how to order coffee in Spain.
In the weekends or when we aren’t working, we might also use the midday snack to socialize and meet friends with the excuse of “having a coffee” together. In the end you won’t be strictly ordering coffee, though: socializing is the main goal, and if you order water, tea or some other non-alcoholic drink nobody will bat an eye. Solid foods are optional, and it’ll depend on your needs and budget – don’t feel obliged to order food if your friend gets a pastry: maybe they didn’t eat breakfast.
SO NO ALCOHOL YET? Hum… Not yet. You are likely to get weird looks if you order alcohol before noon. Even an alcohol-free beer will feel out of place before noon because Spaniards are still in “coffee-mode”.
3
Aperitivo or Vemouth
WHAT? A drink and potato chips, olives, canned cockles or mussels, crackers, Spanish ham shavings or cheese cubes… usually shared with the people you are having vermouth with.
HOW? At home, we’ll serve it just before lunch while we wait for the food to be ready, and we’ll often stand and chat with each other rather than seat. That’s usually because the meal isn’t ready yet and we are coming and going from the kitchen, and it’d be rude to seat when someone is still cooking.
On a socializing setting you can meet friends for an aperitivo at some bar, then each one goes back home (or to a restaurant) to eat. Or you might have met with friends for a morning activity and wrap it up with a vermouth before partying ways. In bars, you have your aperitivo seating on a table. Couple and triads sometimes just stand by the bar counter and make it quicker.
WHAT IS A PICA PICA? It’s pretty much the same, although in this case the food can be more elaborated and include warm finger foods such as Spanish omelet or croquettes. Often a pica-pica is large enough to become a full meal. And it can be also done as a forme of light diner as well.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE WITH EATING TAPAS? That’s a tricky question, because there’s many ways of eating tapas. You can learn more about that in this post about the meaning of tapas I wrote some time ago.
In some cities of Spain they’ll give you a free bite with each alcoholic drink. And the more drinks you order, the better your next free tapa will get. That’s quite close to the vermouth concept… except that when you go for a vermouth you are charged for the food! BTW, did you know in Barcelona there are bars specializing in serving aperitivos? Here are our favorite vermuterias in Barcelona.
4
Lunch
WHAT? Lunch in Spain is a three-course meal. The “primero” (starters) are usually salad, pasta, rice, beans or soup as starter. The main course then can be fish, meat, poultry or eggs often served with sides. A typical meal also includes desert and coffee. Yes, lunch is the main meal of the day in Spain!
HOW LONG? Spanish people like to seat down and eat slowly. That means lunch takes an average of 1 hour. Let’s say 45 minutes if you only have one hour break and you need to go to the nearest bar and get a “menú del día”: a set menu of day specials at an affordable price. It’s cheaper and faster than eating à la carte. During the weekends, instead, there is no menú del dia, and the traditional Spanish meal will be longer (1.5 to 2 hours), either in a restaurant or at home with friends and family.
CAN YOU HAVE A TAPAS LUNCH? Definitely! Not at home, because it’d be too much work to cook lots of different dishes. But you can meet friends and go to a tapas restaurant for lunch. You’ll seat down and order a bunch of platters to share. So it’s more fun to do it with more than two people: it’s a social meal!
THE SOBREMESA RITUAL. La sobremesa is something Spanish people do in the weekends or when on vacation and not in a hurry. After desert and coffee we’ll stay at the table chatting and socializing. In restaurants they won’t dare interrupting you by bringing the bill unasked: that’d be very rude! So unless you’ve been told in advance that there are shifts for the tables and that you need to be gone by X, you are welcome to stay a bit longer after your meal is over. But if you see the waiters starting to clean up ready for closing, it’s your cue to leave.
AND THEN SIESTA, RIGHT? Noooooooo! My friend, siesta is a myth – at least in Barcelona. Only toddlers, retired people and pregnant ladies that aren’t working in the afternoon will nap after lunch. Or maybe if you are on vacation and it’s really hot outside and you ate a plentiful meal you might want to snooze for a while. Otherwise, Spanish people don’t sleep after lunch (and you’ll offend them if you ask).
So why are shops closed? Easy: in Spain eating is more sacred than sleeping! From 2 to 3pm shops close so the staff can eat. And since parents won’t pick up kids from school until 4 or 5pm, there’s no one shopping until then. That’s why the shop owners would rather have a longer lunch break and stay open until later in the evening. However, most large chains that can afford to have people doing shifts stay open all day long, specially in the city center.
5
Merienda, the afternoon snack
WHAT? A sandwich, a bakery or bun, a piece of fruit or some other snack.
Just like the midday snack, it’s a small meal that helps you keep up until the next big meal. It’s usually a kids thing, something they’ll do right as they get out of school. But adults can do it occasionally, either as a coffee break, or as an excuse to meet friends and treat yourself to a cake. The merienda is also the perfect time for a hot chocolate and churros when the weather is cold. Although it’s not something to do every day but more of a weekend treat.
6
Dinner
When eating out, even if most restaurants open around 8PM, locals hardly ever arrive earlier than 9PM. Expect it to be empty (or only full with tourists) until 9.30, but by the time you leave it’ll be buzzing with people.
WHAT? Soup or vegetables as starter. Fish, eggs or small bites (sausage, croquettes, empanadillas) as main. Dessert is optional and could be some cheese, a piece of fruit or a yogurt (or cake or ice cream in restaurants, where some people might also order a coffee – decaf or not).
While at home people tries to keep dinner lighter, when we go out to a restaurant (which is not as often as Americans do, but for a special occasion or when going out with friends on Friday or Saturday), we often eat as much as we do for lunch. Then we go for a stroll before heading home, to help digestion…
WHAT DOES RESOPÓN MEAN? This might be a word mostly used in Catalan-speaking areas, because it comes from “sopar“, dinner in Catalan. And it’s a meal that can be eaten right before going to sleep if it’s been a while since you had dinner. It’s usually something light that doesn’t require much cooking, but… that’ll depend on how hungry you are! It can go from a yogurt or piece of fruit to some left overs from the fridge. But no, it’s not a nightcap: resopón doesn’t involve alcohol.
IS THERE ANYTHING LIKE AFTERWORK DRINKS BEFORE DINNER? I’d say it’s a new imported trend, mostly for young people and singles. Everyone else wants to get back home after work and get some rest.
AND WHAT ABOUT AFTER DINNER? If you are planning a night out partying, going for some drinks after dinner is the beginning of your plan. Spaniards call this “ir de copas” (going for drinks), and that’s what they do between the end of their dinner until 1 or 2AM, when they’ll head to the clubs. The reason is that no one wants to be the only person on the dance floor. So everyone hangs out at the bars until 1AM or 2AM before heading to the club. And since clubs close around 6AM, there was no rush to get there.
More tips to survive the local food habits in Spain
7
If you need to eat outside of these hours…
Mealtimes in Spain are late, and not everyone is ready to wait until locals are hungry to go to a restaurant. If that’s your case, the easiest choice will be tapas bars, usually opening either at breakfast time or noon and serving food non-stop until late night. Spaniards eat tapas any time of the day. And in this other post you’ll find some restaurants open for early meals in Spain (Barcelona).
8
And if you don’t have much time…
9
Food and money matters
Taxes / VAT
Good news! In Spain VAT and any other taxes are included in the price shown in the menus. No need to use a calculator to figure out how much you’ll be paying. The tax amount should also be displayed at the end of the bill, and the VAT currently applied to food is 10%.
“Terraza” supplements
This is the only occasion when the prices displayed on the menu might not match what you’ll end up paying. If the venue has both indoor and outdoor tables, they are likely to charge a supplement (around 10%) to meals ordered for the outdoor tables. But even if the final price doesn’t come in the menu, it should at least be indicated somewhere on it. Look for something that reads “Suplemento terraza: 10%” – it’s often fine print at the bottom of the menu. In doubt, ask the waiter.
Tipping
Tipping is optional in Spain and locals only do that as a reward to good service. How much to tip depends on many factors, so let me refer you to our post about tipping in Spain for more info.
10
Smoking
But unfortunately they won’t care about people in the surrounding tables, and often when they put away the cigarettes to prevent the smoke from going towards their friends… they’ll be instead directing it towards the neighboring tables. It’s an important thing to take into account when deciding to eat outdoors.
And some last trivia about Spanish eating habits
11
Why do people eat so late in Spain?
That is a good story! If you look at a map of the world time zones, you’ll see that Spain is in a time zone that doesn’t match with its geographical area. We should be one hour less than we are! The reason is that after General Franco won the Spanish Civil war and started a fascist dictatorship he thought it’d be more convenient to be in the same time of his allies, the nazis. So he forced Spain to adopt the same time frame of Germany. And we are still there, even if the country is now a democracy.
It seems that people preferred to keep eating at the times their body was used to. So instead of starting to eat according to their new time zone, they just pushed their day schedules one hour later. How weird is that?
12
Table manners
Saying gracias to your waiter when they bring your order, or to your host when you are served, is nice and appreciated. Also, put your cellphone away during meal times.
Old people will tell you off for putting your elbows on the table (but younger people don’t care). And only waiters in high end restaurants will pay attention to how you leave your cutlery (knife and fork parallel across the dish means you are done and they can take it away). Eating with your mouth open or making awkward noises is not acceptable.
In restaurants it’s OK to leave food in your plate if you didn’t like it or are too full. If you are invited to someone’s home try to politely refuse what you won’t eat before they serve it to you (but old grandmas will give you a hard time with that anyway). It’s also OK to scrape the plate clean with the help of some bread (no licking!).
Eating with your fingers is allowed for certain foods and appetizers such as olives, chips and some tapas that aren’t saucy or greasy. Sometimes toothpicks are provided for such foods and it’s best to use them. Other than that, use your cutlery.
13
Cheers!
While “Salud!” is the neutral way to say cheers in Spanish, we have a few more ways to do that depending on the situation. Are you curious about it? Then check this other post.
Marta
Marta is the founder of ForeverBarcelona. She is a passionate tour guide that loves Barcelona and loves writing too. She is the main author of our Blog, and is committed to sharing her knowledge about Barcelona and her best tips with our readers.
Good tips on eating out in Barcelona. These apply to most cities in Spain. We already figured out the schedules. Somehow we always end up getting hungry outside of regular dinner times. Thank you Marta. Adeu…