The Best Coffee Houses in Spain

Takeaway bars

Many Spanish specialty bars are a counter and little else. Pacopepe Specialty Coffee in Granada, Goat Coffee Store in Valencia and Coto Coffee + Colmado in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter have no seating at all. Ganbaru Coffee in Málaga has two seats inside and a bench outside. Delatribu in Seville, near the Alcázar, serves in paper cups even to people who stay, and its queue may wait outside in the sun. At Nomad Coffee in Barcelona long queues are common, and there is no food or sugar.

Andalusia

Nearly half of the Spanish bars are in Andalusia. Arábiga is in Córdoba's historic centre, where the owner roasts his own single origins and prepares each coffee to order. Granada has two roasters, Pacopepe and Despiertoo Specialty Coffee, the second with a large communal bar that fills with laptop workers. Muy Coffee in Seville is run by a family team who explain the rotating beans.

Owners from abroad

Several owners brought their coffee from another country. Naji, at Naji Specialty Coffee in Madrid, adds an Iraqi influence to flavoured lattes and cappuccinos, many of them named after cities. Steven, the Italian barista who runs Goat Coffee Store, makes short Italian-style espresso next to iced honey lattes. The Melbourne-trained owner of Coto pours Australian-style flat whites and sells ANZAC biscuits. Dabov Specialty Coffee in Madrid serves beans from the Dabov roastery in Bulgaria.

Milk and laptops

Oat milk is easy to find, and it costs extra at Goat, as plant-based milk does at Muy. Swallow in Alicante's old town bans laptops from its stone-walled room. La Manière in Vigo, a brunch café with coffee from rotating roasters such as Dak and Nomad, is closed on Sundays and often has a wait for a table.