Barcelona bar causes stir by linking coffee prices to time on terrace

Greed, anti-tourism or ensuring fairness between clients? A Barcelona bar has ruffled feathers by tying coffee prices to time spent on the 'terraza'.

A bar in Barcelona has caused controversy by increasing its coffee prices depending on how long clients spend on the terrace.

Perfetto bar, in the Catalan capital’s popular Barceloneta neighbourhood, has added small signs on the tables explaining the rising price structure. Firstly, it has the price of a regular café con leche (€1.60), but the new pricing structure explains that if you take more than half an hour to drink it, the price rises to €2.50. If you sit for more than an hour, the price rises to €4.

The bar, which is in a famously touristy area of the city, has outraged some, especially online, who have questioned the legality of the move and branded it “theft”.

The small bar has only four tables in the Barceloneta square, and reporting from Spanish daily El Diario suggests there are often customers who order a coffee and camp out on the terrace for hours at a time without ordering anything else.

Until one day, when two clients got into an argument after one of them remained seated for over an hour and a half and annoyed the other, who also wanted to enjoy the terrace.

Massimo, the bar manager, says they then decided to take matters into their own hands. "It started as a joke, and now it has remained a deterrent measure, just to make people aware," he says.

That's why he decided to put the price 'warning' on the tables. "It's a way of raising awareness," he says. "You can't go too many hours without consuming, otherwise the business is not profitable."

Though specifically time-tied pricing is a new concept, limiting time on terraces more generally is not new in Spain. As The Local reported back in 2022, in the initial post-pandemic period, many bar and restaurant owners put time limits on terrace tables in order to try and increase business and recoup some of their losses during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Limits of an hour, ninety minutes or two hours are common across Spain, especially in tourist hotspots.

However, judging by reporting in the Spanish press, it seems there could also possibly be an underlying anti-tourism motivation here as locals don’t seem to be getting charged extra.

“We have a loyal clientele, and obviously we don't charge €2.50 if you stay more than 30 minutes,” Massimo stated. Instead, prices go up only when the situation is very “exaggerated”. In such a touristy area of Barcelona, one has to wonder who exactly is being charged this terraza surcharge.

Despite the accusations of greed or ‘theft’ by some, the bar claims the new policy is more about ensuring fairness for clients than it is boosting profits. Reporting from Cadena Ser states that newspapers in the bar have also proved to be a problem, for example.

“We had two newspapers, but we had to get rid of them because there were customers who hogged them all morning. And there are more people who want to read too,” Massimo explained.

The controversial policy goes against a long-standing Spanish custom. Spain is known as the land of sobremesas - the concept of dragging out post-meal get-togethers as the conversation between friends and family members flows - but AN increasing number of café, bar and restaurant owners are looking to crack down on clients dominating tables as a way to increase turnover and profits.

A la Barceloneta si vols un cafè te l’has de prendre en menys de 30 minuts. pic.twitter.com/kJd0dsXjVv
— Maria (@maria_lostia) May 4, 2025

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Barcelona bar causes stir by linking coffee prices to time on terrace