Franchise for sale in Spain: buy, open or build your own chain

A franchise in Spain typically takes about €120,000 of investment: across 65 franchises in a 2026 catalogue, the median entry fee is €15,000, royalties are 5% of revenue plus about 1% for marketing.

An existing franchised outlet resells for less, around €46,500, but usually only with the franchisor’s consent. Your own chain pays more once the concept is proven.

Looking at a franchise for sale in Spain?

Below: what a franchise costs in cafés, restaurants, supermarkets, gyms, salons, laundromats, car washes, language schools and car repair; what an existing franchised outlet sells for; what the franchisor must disclose before you sign; what to check in the contract; what is left for the owner after royalties; and when a second and third outlet under your own brand makes more sense.

The page includes a payback calculator with an illustrative franchised coffee shop. If you want to buy a whole chain in one deal, see Buying a company in Spain.

What a franchise costs in Spain

We reviewed the terms of 65 franchises in niches already covered on this site, using the mundoFranquicia catalogue (October 2026).

The median stated investment is €120,000, and half the franchises fall between €65,000 and €180,000.

The entry fee (canon de entrada) is €15,000 on average, usually €10,000–22,000, and six networks charge none.

Royalties are most often 5% of revenue and the marketing levy 1%, together 6–7.5%. Contracts usually run for 5 years, sometimes 10, and 20 at the big fast-food chains.

Three caveats. First, “investment from” is a minimum, usually excluding VAT, the premises deposit and sometimes the building works.

Second, these are the terms networks state in a catalogue, not deal prices; the franchisor must give exact figures in writing before you sign.

Third, supermarkets work differently: there is hardly any entry fee or royalty, the network earns on the goods it supplies, and investment is counted per m² of sales floor.

Examples from the sample: a Braco or Carmencita Brunch coffee shop — from €60,000 with an €18,000 entry fee, 5% royalty and 1% marketing; an Il Postino restaurant — from €100,000 with an €18,000 fee; Foster’s Hollywood — from €550,000 with a €36,000 fee, 5% royalty and 3% marketing; Burger King — €550,000 with a €60,000 fee, 5% + 5% and a 20-year contract; a Pilates10 studio — from €120,000 and 6%; a Jean Louis David salon — €50,000, a €10,000 fee, €650 royalty and €150 marketing a month.

What an existing franchised outlet costs

A running franchised outlet is sold like any other small business — through a traspaso.

We found 28 listings from 2024–2026 that state the outlet operates under a franchise (Wallapop, October 2026). The median is €46,500, and half fall between €24,500 and €95,600.

Salons and hairdressers sell for about €30,000, self-service laundromats for about €90,000, restaurants for about €120,000. These are asking prices.

Examples: a 78 m² franchised hairdresser in Barcelona’s Les Corts — €45,000; a low-cost-chain laundromat in Benalmádena — €94,499; a 200 m² pizzeria of a well-known chain with delivery in Molins de Rei — €145,000; a 120 m² franchised bar-restaurant in Barcelona’s Poblenou — €185,000; a franchised delicatessen inside a Madrid department store, with the franchise contract transferred — €460,000.

Buying a running outlet is cheaper than opening a new one: the median resale is 2.5 times lower than the median investment in a new franchise, and revenue is already visible in the bank statements.

But the price buys not the brand forever, only what is left of the franchise contract.

The franchisor must disclose any limits on transferring the franchised business before the contract is signed (art. 3.g RD 201/2010), and most contracts require the network’s consent to a transfer; some let the network buy the outlet itself at the same price.

So before paying a deposit you need three answers: will the network approve you as the new franchisee, how many years are left on the contract, and will you pay a new entry fee.

Some listings say “with or without the franchise” or “franchise contract expiring” — in that case you are buying premises and equipment, and you may have to change the brand.

The franchise market in Spain

According to the Spanish Franchise Association (AEF), at the end of 2025 Spain had 1,295 franchise networks and 77,526 outlets, of which 55,852 were franchised; system turnover was €28,454m.

Turnover of the networks’ own outlets grew by 10.3% over two years, while franchised outlets fell by 1.4%.

Networks grow mainly through their own outlets — they keep the best sites, and franchisees often get the second-best.

The AEF report also lets you estimate average turnover per franchised outlet by sector: cafés about €222,000 a year, gyms about €254,000, beauty salons about €162,000, laundromats and dry cleaners about €129,000, education about €169,000, automotive services about €212,000, grocery about €603,000. Compare the franchisor’s forecast with these numbers.

What the franchisor must disclose before you sign

Spain has no stand-alone franchise contract act: franchising is governed by article 62 of the Retail Trade Act (Ley 7/1996), Royal Decree 201/2010 and EU competition rules.

• There is no longer a register. The mandatory Register of Franchisors was abolished in December 2018 (RDL 20/2018): articles 5–12 of RD 201/2010 on the register no longer apply. A registration number therefore proves nothing; you have to check the network yourself.
• A disclosure document 20 days ahead. At least 20 days before signing a contract or pre-contract, and before any payment, the franchisor must give the prospective franchisee written information about itself, the network and the terms (art. 62.2 Ley 7/1996; RD 201/2010 says 20 working days). A deposit “to reserve the territory” before that document is a warning sign.
• What the document contains. The franchisor’s details and its rights to the brand in Spain, its experience, an estimate of the investment and costs of a typical outlet, the number of own and franchised outlets with their locations, how many franchisees left the network in the last two years and why, and the essential contract terms; any sales forecast must be based on experience or a well-founded study (art. 3 RD 201/2010).

The most useful line in the document is how many franchisees left in the last two years.

If one outlet in five left, check the promised numbers with particular care: call two or three current franchisees and two former ones.

What to check in a franchise contract

1. Territory. Whether you get exclusivity over a district or town, and what happens if the network opens its own outlet nearby or sells online.
2. Term and renewal. How long the contract lasts, whether it renews automatically and whether renewal means a new fee. The term should be at least as long as the payback period, or you will hand the outlet back before you recover your money.
3. Supply only from the franchisor. Under EU rules, an obligation to buy more than 80% of purchases from the franchisor or its designated supplier counts as a non-compete obligation, and during the contract it is exempt only for up to 5 years — unless the franchisee operates from premises owned or leased by the franchisor (arts. 1.1.f, 5.1.a and 5.2 Regulation (EU) 2022/720). Check the prices at which the network sells you goods: the mark-up on supplies often matters more than the royalty.
4. Non-compete after exit. A ban on working in the same field after the contract ends is exempt only if it covers competing goods or services, is limited to the premises you operated from, is needed to protect know-how and lasts no longer than one year (art. 5.3 of the same Regulation). A three-year, province-wide ban is something to negotiate with a lawyer.
5. Prices. The network may recommend prices or set a maximum, but it may not impose a fixed or minimum resale price (art. 4.a of the Regulation).
6. Exit and buy-back. How to transfer the outlet to a buyer, whether the network has a right of first refusal, at what price it buys back the equipment on termination, and what penalties apply to early exit.

What a franchise earns: a coffee shop in numbers

Royalties and the marketing levy are charged on revenue, not on profit. So a franchise changes an outlet’s economics more than the percentage suggests.

Under the 2026 collective agreement for the province of Alicante, a bar waiter earns €1,314.25 a month, 14 times a year, plus an October payment of €1,235.82; with employer social security (about 32% on top) one full-time post costs about €2,160 a month.

Franchise payback calculator

The calculator holds an illustrative franchised coffee shop: an entry fee of €18,000 (the “purchase price” field) plus €92,000 for the refit and equipment to the network’s standard, the project, the licence and launch.

Revenue is €20,000 a month excluding VAT (€240,000 a year, close to the AEF average for a franchised café).

The cost-of-sales field holds 36%: supplies 30% plus a 5% royalty and 1% marketing, because both are charged on revenue.

If your franchise charges a fixed monthly royalty, as many hairdressers do, put it under “Other”.

Staff cost €6,500 a month (three posts; the owner manages without a salary), rent €1,800 and other costs €1,500.

Pre-tax profit is €36,000 a year, about €29,200 after tax, and the €110,000 investment pays back in about 3.8 years.

What the example shows. Royalties and marketing come to €14,400 a year, more than a third of pre-tax profit.

The same coffee shop under its own name would make €50,400 before tax and pay back in 2.3 years.

So the franchise pays only if the brand brings at least €22,500 a year (9–10%) more revenue, or saves you mistakes that would cost more.

If revenue drops by 10%, pre-tax profit falls to €20,640; by 15%, to €12,960; break-even is about €15,300 of revenue a month.

How to read a payback period and what to compare it with is covered in Payback period, and the reserve for the first months in Cash gap.

Your own chain or a franchise: the second and third outlet

For an investor, the key question is not which franchise to buy but who will stand behind the counter. In our example the owner runs the coffee shop.

If you hire a manager for about €2,700 a month, the franchised outlet’s pre-tax profit drops from €36,000 to almost nothing — about €3,600 a year.

A single franchised outlet with hired management earns an investor very little; it starts to make sense when there are several outlets and one manager for all of them.

• A franchise makes more sense if you have no working concept of your own, need a known brand on an expensive site (a shopping centre, a station), or are in a niche where the network’s buying and marketing really are cheaper — supermarkets, fast food. Many networks discount the entry fee for a second and third outlet.
• Your own chain makes more sense once the first outlet is profitable: a second one under your own brand pays no fee and no royalty. In our example a second coffee shop with a hired manager earns about €18,000 before tax — five times more than the same outlet under someone else’s brand with a manager.
• Buying an existing chain is the third route: several outlets, staff and suppliers in one deal, usually by buying the company that owns them. How that deal works is covered in Buying a company in Spain.

Franchise taxes

• VAT on sales. The rate depends on the niche: food and drink in a café are taxed at 10% (art. 91.Uno.2.2º Ley 37/1992), salon or school services at the standard 21% unless an exemption applies.
• VAT on the fee and royalties. The entry fee and royalties are services from the franchisor, subject to 21% VAT that the franchisee deducts; if the franchisor is not established in Spain, the franchisee self-assesses the VAT (arts. 69.Uno.1º and 84.Uno.2º.a Ley 37/1992). Royalties paid to a foreign network may also need non-resident tax withheld — check this with a tax adviser before signing.
• Modules. A café can be taxed under the modules system if the owner is an individual and last year’s revenue was up to €250,000 (Orden HAC/1425/2025, Tax Agency position). More in Buying or opening a café or bar in Spain.
• SL. Several outlets are usually run through an SL: in 2026, with turnover under €1m, corporate tax is 19% on the first €50,000 of profit and 21% above. How to take the profit out is covered in Salary or dividends from a Spanish SL.

What to check before buying a franchised outlet

1. The network’s consent and the remaining term. Written consent from the franchisor to the transfer, the contract term, any fee on transfer or renewal, the network’s right of first refusal.
2. The lease. A business tenant may assign the lease without the landlord’s consent, but the landlord may raise the rent by 20%, and must be notified within a month (art. 32 LAU); the lease may prohibit assignment (art. 4.3 LAU).
3. The numbers. Monthly revenue for 2–3 years from bank statements, the till and VAT returns (modelo 303), the reports the outlet sends to the network, and the royalties paid over the year — they confirm revenue better than the seller’s word. How a seller justifies the price is covered in How to value a business for sale.
4. Debts to the network. Arrears on royalties, supplies and marketing, and any mandatory refit to the network’s new standard that the buyer will have to pay for.
5. Debts and staff. The buyer of a running business is liable for the seller’s tax debts (art. 42.1.c LGT) unless it obtains a Tax Agency debt certificate before the deal (art. 175.2 LGT), and for social security debts (art. 168.2 LGSS); employees transfer to the buyer with all their rights (art. 44 ET).

How an existing business is checked before a deposit is described on the traspaso audit page; if you are buying a company that owns several outlets, you need full due diligence.

Buying through a company? What it costs and how to set up an SL in Spain — capital, notary, registration and yearly costs.

If you are moving to Spain for this business

A non-resident can buy a franchise or a franchised outlet, but a non-EU citizen can live in Spain and run it personally only with a residence permit — usually the self-employment permit, initially for one year.

The golden visa has been abolished, and the startup visa does not fit an ordinary franchise.

How the self-employment permit works and how it differs from employment is covered by Relotus in “Cuenta propia in Spain“.

The sensible order is to confirm the permit suits you first, and only then sign the franchise contract and pay the fee.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a franchise cost in Spain?

Across 65 franchises in a 2026 catalogue, the median investment is €120,000, and half fall between €65,000 and €180,000. The entry fee averages €15,000, royalties are 5% of revenue and the marketing levy 1%. A coffee shop starts at €50,000–80,000, a restaurant at €100,000, a major fast-food outlet at about €550,000.

How much does an existing franchised outlet cost?

In 28 listings from 2024–2026 the median is €46,500, and half fall between €24,500 and €95,600. Salons sell for about €30,000, laundromats for about €90,000, restaurants for about €120,000. Transferring an outlet usually requires the franchisor’s consent.

Does the franchisor have to consent to the sale of an outlet?

The law does not require it directly, but the franchisor must disclose any limits on transferring the business before signing, and most contracts allow a transfer only with the network’s consent. Without consent the buyer gets the premises and equipment, but not the brand.

Is there a register of franchisors in Spain?

No. The mandatory Register of Franchisors was abolished in 2018. A different duty applies: at least 20 days before the contract or first payment, the franchisor must disclose in writing its details, the network, closed outlets and the contract terms.

What are royalties and the marketing levy?

The royalty is a monthly payment to the franchisor for the brand and support; the marketing levy is a contribution to the network’s shared advertising fund. Most often they are 5% and 1% of revenue; hairdressers sometimes charge a fixed €300–900 a month. Both are charged on revenue, even if the outlet makes no profit.

How much does a franchised coffee shop earn?

In the illustrative example with €240,000 of annual revenue and three staff, a franchised coffee shop earns about €29,200 after tax if the owner runs it; payback is about 3.8 years. Royalties and marketing take €14,400 a year.

Which is better: a franchise or your own chain?

A franchise makes more sense without a working concept of your own and in niches where the network brings cheap supplies and a known brand. If the first outlet is already profitable, a second and third under your own brand pay no fee or royalty. An existing chain can be bought in one deal, by buying the company.

Key points about franchising in Spain

• The median investment in a new franchise is €120,000, the entry fee €15,000, royalties and marketing about 6% of revenue.
• An existing franchised outlet resells for €46,500 on average, but you buy the rest of the contract, usually with the network’s consent.
• There is no longer a register of franchisors; the franchisor must hand over a document on the network and closed outlets 20 days before the contract.
• Under EU rules, a post-term non-compete is limited to one year and to the same premises.
• Royalties are charged on revenue: in the coffee shop example they take more than a third of profit, so a second and third outlet under your own brand usually pays more.

Sources

• Ley 7/1996 (retail trade), art. 62 — BOE; RD 201/2010 (franchising) — BOE; Regulation (EU) 2022/720 — OJ EU.
• LAU, arts. 4 and 32 — BOE; LGT, arts. 42 and 175 — BOE; Workers’ Statute, art. 44 — BOE; Ley 37/1992 (VAT) — BOE.
• Orden HAC/1425/2025 (modules for 2026) — BOE; Orden PJC/297/2026 (social security) — BOE; Alicante hospitality collective agreement, 2026 tables — BOPA.
• AEF, “La Franquicia en España 2026” — Cajamar.
• Franchise terms — mundoFranquicia catalogue, October 2026; franchised outlet resale listings — Wallapop, October 2026.