Many people have a habit of working with the laptop computer on terraces, cafes or bars, enjoying the peace of mind, access to free Wi-Fi and a cup of coffee nearby. On other occasions, it is just about taking a long break, talking to friends or simply enjoying the city movement. However, this type of prolonged permanence in establishments is raising new questions in some of the main Spanish cities, leading Spanish owners to take action.
Coffee with Time told
Drinking a coffee calmly or working in a computer bar for a few hours is becoming an increasingly difficult task in Spanish cities like Madrid or Barcelona. According to the portal, some Spanish establishments have begun to limit customers’ permanence time to the table and, in some cases, the price of a simple coffee cup can double or triple, depending on the time spent on site.
In Barcelona, a bar located in one of the city’s most touristy zones near the beach is charging different prices as the time the customer remains at the table. In Caffè Perfetto, coffee costs 1.30 euros if consumed in less than 30 minutes. If the customer exceeds this time, the price rises to 2.50 euros. And anyone who wants to stay more than an hour drinking the same coffee will have to pay 4 euros, according to the source mentioned above.
Photography with this price list was published online and quickly became viral among the Spanish. The post got close to a thousand tastes and more than a hundred comments. Some netizens agree with the measure imposed by the bar, equating it to the operation of a parking park: “Payment is based on occupancy time.” Others consider excessive practice, wondering if the establishment does not feel “shame” in adopting such a policy.
The owner’s justification
Massimo, owner of the bar concerned, explained to the Spanish newspaper Diario.es, quoted by the globe, the reasons behind the decision. According to this official, the measure intends to sensitize customers to the fact that it is not feasible to keep someone for hours occupying a table without consuming. “If people don’t consume, business is no longer profitable,” he said.
Maria Moreno Albiol, author of the publication that generated discussion, considers that Barcelona is undergoing a process of gentrification and tourist massification, whose consequences are felt in the most central areas of the city. “It is us, the residents and workers of the neighborhood, who suffer from this,” he told BBC Brazil, also cited by the same source.
The city has changed, and the bar also
Maria says she used to attend this bar when the atmosphere was more local and relaxed. Now, according to himself, most establishments in the Barceloneta zone has become a monster for tourists. “I won’t be back to this bar, not just for the price of coffee, but because these places are no longer affordable to those who live and work here. Prices are very high, as with the housing in Barcelona,” he laments.
High tourism and Spanish cafes under pressure
In 2024, Spain broke a record by receiving almost 94 million foreign tourists. The first months of 2025 show continuity in this trend, with an increase of 5.7% of visitors compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the National Institute of Spanish Statistics. The country remains the second most visited tourist destination in the world, following France.
This tourist pressure helps explain the decision of some Spanish coffees and bars. Jorge R. Fernández, owner of the Sifo restaurant in Barcelona, comments that this situation “is not an isolated case” and that “it is part of a set of measures that the market was forced to adopt due to the intense flow of tourists”. It really considers mass tourism “one of the biggest calamities of big cities these days”.
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In Madrid, discreet but present signs
In the Spanish capital, the situation has not yet reached the same levels, but the trend is already noted. In Madrid tourist zones, some cafes started to limit the use of tables, especially when customers use laptops, says the aforementioned source.
In the neighborhood of Lavapiés, for example, a welcoming coffee shop allows the use of laptops for two hours, but only from Monday to Friday. On weekends, it is forbidden to sit with a computer. One of the employees, who preferred not to be identified, explained that the measure came out of necessity. “We received a lot of people. When someone is sitting hours without consuming, we lost other customers. If the space is full, we have to ask those who have been releasing the table for a long time,” he said.
Legality of practice
According to the organization of consumers and users of Catalonia (occupa), it is legal to impose a maximum time of permanence or require minimal consumption, provided that the rule is previously communicated to the customer and is posed visibly.
New trend or response to excess?
Thais Cardoso, systems analyst who has lived in Madrid for six years, works usually from home, but likes to change his environment and go to cafes in the city center. “I usually consume and I haven’t been without any time without asking anything. It has happened to suggest that I wore collective tables instead of individuals, because it is portable,” he says.
In your opinion, this policy can keep up. “This has been seen especially in busier coffees. I do not agree with the limits of time, but I realize the reasons,” he says, cited by the same source.
(Almost) prohibited computers
In the Callao neighborhood, in one of Madrid’s most popular terraces, a clear warning behind the tables is posted behind the counter is prohibited.
However, according to the coffee shop manager, this rule is not applied with rigidity. “A coffee costs 3 euros. If someone is sitting two hours and only consumes it, how do we be able to make a profit? In practice, we do not fully forbid, but we expect good sense. Teleworking benefits companies, which do not pay rent, but cafes and bars also have bills to pay.”
A concept that already has history
Although recent in Spain, the idea of paying for the time of stay in a coffee is not new. In Moscow, for example, ZiferBlat has been applying this model for over a decade, reveals the same source. Customers do not pay for drinks or space use, but for the time that remain inside the coffee: 3.5 rubles per minute, the equivalent of approximately 0.04 euros.
The trend may not please everyone, but tourist pressure and business survival are changing the way coffee in big cities drinks. And perhaps the idea of spending hours with a laptop and a forgotten cup ahead is even with the days told after this measure of the Spanish, if other European Union countries, namely Portugal, choose to follow the same path.
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