Spain's Set Lunch Hits 14.70 Euro Average as Daily Habit Fades

The average price of the menú del día in Spain has reached 14.70 euros. This fixed-price midday meal, which includes a starter, main, dessert, and drink, faces rising costs and shifting eating habits. Approximately 4 million of these meals are served on each working day, though the total is slowly declining.

Lakshmi Aguirre, a Spanish food journalist, released a new book titled Menú del Día: Everyday Scenes of a First Course, a Second Course and Pudding. She argues the tradition is in trouble but not yet finished. Her work traces the history of the meal and the economic pressures currently squeezing the restaurants that serve it.

The menu originated in the mid-1960s under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Manuel Fraga, the information and tourism minister, created it to show foreign visitors that food in Spain was plentiful and affordable. The original law required a soup starter, a main dish of egg, fish, or meat with a side, and a dessert of fruit, sweets, or cheese. Prices were fixed between 50 and 250 pesetas. The accompanying wine had to be a pure Spanish red or white with at least 12% alcohol.

In the early 1970s, the government renamed the offer. The change aimed to make the meal look less like a tourist trap and to encourage local Spaniards to eat out. Many people today do not know the menu started as a state initiative. Aguirre noted that many Spaniards expressed shock when she mentioned Fraga during her research. She said the country forgets its history quickly, but nostalgia for the daily lunch is growing.

Ferran Adrià, a prominent chef, declared the menu dead in 2009. He blamed economic downturns and the rise of bistro-style restaurants that charge 20 to 30 euros for similar food. Seventeen years later, the tradition persists despite these challenges. Many workers now choose quick options, such as bringing food from home or heating supermarket meals, to save time.

Rising energy and food costs make it difficult for small, family-run restaurants to maintain a rotating daily menu. Some establishments have switched to a single dish of the day. Others have added Latin American foods to reflect changing demographics in Spain. Aguirre accepts these changes, stating the menu has always mirrored the society that eats it.

Aguirre identifies the loss of a social meeting point as the greatest cost of the decline. She describes the restaurant as a place where families with limited income can dine out and where people living alone find company. She emphasizes that the value of the menu lies in having the time to enjoy a meal, not just in the ability to pay for it.