Last year was a black year for small Spanish businesses. According to the self-employed associations UPTA and UATAE, 13,586 stores closed in just twelve months, an average of 38 closures per day. In the last decade, Spain has lost 142,000 local businesses, almost 20% of its commercial fabric.
Behind every lowered blind there is a story like Esperanza Nieto. Family stores, bookstores, grocery stores or herbalists that have been part of the life of the neighborhoods for generations. But the combination of skyrocketing rents, gentrification and mass tourism is pushing these businesses to the brink of closure.
In Madrid alone, 7,084 neighborhood businesses disappeared in 2025. Traditional butcher shops or fruit shops fell by up to 24% in five years. In Barcelona the panorama is the same: traditional establishments coexist every day with an invasion of franchises, souvenir shops and ‘Instagrammable’ cafes.
And the thing is, gentrification, that process that replaces neighbors with tourists, has hidden identity. Where there used to be a haberdashery, now you can find a shop brunch. Where there was a workshop, tomorrow it may have a ‘for rent’ sign hanging.
Open since 1856
Esperanza Nieto is the owner of a historic herbalist open since 1856. After 170 years, next September will be when the contract ends. “We are uncertain. I don’t know if they will renew it, I think I will have to leave here,” he confesses before the cameras. The Sixth.
His herbal shop is a corner that escapes modernity: “My store offers dealings with people. What interests me are the people, there are those who only come to sit and not to buy.”
The only problem is the rent and the possible non-renewal of the contract. Esperanza fears the worst: “I only ask that they maintain the price I have now, which is already difficult for me to pay,” she explains.
“There are only three lifelong neighbors left”
The owners take advantage of the financing of old contracts to multiply the rental price, often driven by the tourist value of the area. Thus, centuries-old businesses are replaced by luxury or multinational establishments.
“The premises need to be protected. We do not have to preserve the façade, but rather what we have inside. They are turning the usual businesses into luxury stores. We must pass laws against speculation because this is being a robbery,” says the woman.
And Esperanza admits that in her building “there are only three lifelong neighbors”, the rest are apartments that are used as tourist apartments. “Tourism does not generate a support network, but only individuality,” he explains.
The rental problem not only affects homes, but, as Esperanza details, also local businesses. Prices have risen more than 10% in just one year, and in stressed areas, such as Madrid or Barcelona, the effort to maintain a central location has become an odyssey.
The merchant does not want to give up, but begins to prepare for the worst. “If they don’t renew my contract, I’ll have to look for work. I wouldn’t open another store,” he says. Theirs is not just a business, but it is a living memory that carries with it historical events such as the inauguration of the first railway lines, how electric light reached the streets and even the Civil War.