A legacy of the dictatorship

The menú del día, Spain's fixed-price daily lunch, originated in the mid nineteen sixties under Franco's information and tourism minister Manuel Fraga to show foreign visitors that food was plentiful and affordable.

What the original menu required

Restaurants had to offer a starter of soup, a main course from at least three options based on egg, fish or meat with a side dish, and pudding based on fruit, something sweet, or cheese.

The price and the wine rules

The price was set between fifty and two hundred fifty pesetas. The law stipulated the accompanying quarter litre of wine had to be reds and whites from Spain that are pure, clean, pleasant on the…

Rebranded for ordinary Spaniards

In the early nineteen seventies, the menú del día was rebaptised to make it look less like an attempt to attract tourists and to give ordinary Spaniards the idea that they too could indulge.

Still served but fading fast

Four million menús are still served each weekday, but Spain is slowly losing its appetite for the familiar ritual. In two thousand nine, chef Ferran Adrià pronounced it dead.

A book charts its survival

Spanish food journalist Lakshmi Aguirre's book Menú del Día: Everyday Scenes of a First Course, a Second Course and Pudding argues that while the tradition is in hot water, it hasn't quite had its chips.

“it hasn't quite had its chips”

Why the menú is under threat

Rising energy and food prices make it harder for small family run restaurants to offer rotating daily selections. Many Spaniards now eat quick lunches from home or supermarket ready meals instead of sitting down.

Adaptation and diversity

The average menú del día price today is fourteen euros seventy. Some restaurants now offer a dish of the day as a cheaper alternative, and menus increasingly feature Latin American staples reflecting Spain's changing demographics.

What makes a good menú spot

Aguirre's benchmarks include simple dishes, regularly changing menus, fresh chips, a chorus of regulars, and a chalkboard free of words like avocado, burrata, tartare, truffle or sourdough bread.

More than just a meal

The menú del día is a meeting point and centre of community gravity where families with limited financial means can afford to eat out and those who live alone find company during a deeply social…

“A centre of community gravity where families with limited financial means can afford to eat out”

What's being lost

As the menú del día fades, Spain loses a place where joys, sorrows and problems can be shared, where people find breathing space, and where those without time to go home for lunch can still…

“What's being lost is a meeting point”