Spaniards are traveling more than ever. That’s why the new trendy restaurants are gas stations and airports.

The Spain of 2026 is not fed the same as that of 2016, 2006 and (of course) that of three, four or five decades ago. That is something that can be sensed by taking a look at the trends in the sector: the bread consumption and fish is in the doldrums in homes, just like the wine either the beerand we are increasingly inclined to buy food on trayspre-cooked or even dishes elaborated in the supermarket, what is making gold to Mercadona. For changing it has even changed the way to focus the pitanza: three course menu we have passed to the snackfication.

Now we know something else: in a Spain that is increasingly inclined to travel, the ‘road’ restaurantssuch as those located at gas stations or airports.

Eating ‘on the way’. We knew that 2025 had not been a bad year for hoteliers in Spain, who (although with a slight decrease in the profitability of restaurants) saw their turnover grow about 4.7%.

What we didn’t know is that, within the sector, there is a niche that seems to have done well particularly good: premises located in ‘transit’ places, such as service areas, airports, railway stations and ports. That is, restaurants in which (it is assumed) a large percentage of customers are travelers in transit, people looking for a place to eat while traveling from one place to another.

The percentage: 6.2%. The DBK Sector Observatory has just published a report in which it details that in Spain there are some 4,300 restaurant establishments with this profile, ‘on the road’ businesses that last year increased their sales by 6.2%. It’s not bad at all. Especially if we take into account that in 2024 the sector has already expanded by 11.6% and has registered “strong growth” since 2021.

A billion-dollar business. In practice, this growth translated in 2025 into a global turnover of 1,790 million euros. Of them, 45.5% came from bars located in airports, which generated a turnover of 815 million euros. They are followed (in size) by the service areas, which generated around 785 million, the railway terminals (150 million) and the maritime stations, which totaled 40 million, around 2.2% of the sector.

As for the network of ‘on-the-go’ restaurants, the service areas stand out above all. Of the 4,300 establishments of this type that DBK has registered throughout the country, 3,500 correspond to businesses located in places where customers stop to refuel. They are followed at a distance by stores located in airports, which total about 430 businesses, 10.1% of the total. Already in third place are the bars at the maritime (190) and train stations (175).

airport menu. He DBK report provides another interesting fact: restaurants located in airports are not only the ones that make the most money in general, they are also the ones that have expanded their business the most. The consulting firm estimates that in 2025 its turnover increased by 7.2%nothing surprising if we take into account that Aena’s passenger traffic also grew last year.

The airport operator accounted in total 321.6 million of travelers, 3.9% more than in 2024. In fact Aena reached a user record both in its entire network, which includes facilities located in the United Kingdom and Brazil, and in around twenty airports. These brands are driven both by the movements of Spaniards who fly between different cities in the country or to destinations abroad, as well as by the tourists with other nationalities.

Why is it important? Beyond what it means for the sector, the DKB report is interesting because it helps us understand how we eat in Spain. We know that every time we are less dice to consume fresh fish at home, which is a respectable percentage of Spaniards who never or very rarely cook and who seem to less interested on traditional bar menus and more inclined to compare precooked either dishes prepared in supermarkets.

Now to all those trends, and others related to the pecking either alcohol consumptiona new one is added: more and more we eat in transit places, something that makes sense if we take into account the increase in travel outside.

Images | Ivona Rož (Unsplash) and Max Harlynking (Unsplash)

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