Number of veggie outlets in Spain doubles in three years

Vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Spain now number more than 800 – a 94% increase since 2011

Spain looks set to shake off its tag as the meat-loving capital of Europe following a recent revelation that the number of vegetarian or vegan restaurants in the country has increased by 94 per cent since 2011.

Vegetarian website the Happy Cow has revealed that there are now 686 vegetarian or vegan restaurants in Spain, up from just 353 as recently as 2011…

And while the country still lags behind the UK, for example (which boasts 1,344 such establishments), the increase is seen as a testament to Spain’s evolving tastebuds, if not the country’s moral compass on whether it is right or wrong to eat meat.

“A lot of people are becoming vegetarian or vegan for health reasons,” Laura Jiménez, co-organiser of Valencia’s Vegan Fest, told the Guardian. “But it should be about defending the rights of animals. What should really worry people is that there are still animals being maltreated.

“Fundamentally that’s the issue that we should be dealing with, not the flavour of the food.”

But Jiménez’s right-on outlook is not echoed by many of her fellow Spaniards. Health and cost reasons are often cited as a trigger for the rise in vegetarianism, or at least a preference for a diet that is lighter on meat.

“If I could get away with it I wouldn’t cook with fish or meat at all,” said chef of the year at the Madrid Fusion awards, Rodrigo de la Calle. “The bad thing about vegetarianism is that it’s negative; it’s more about the maltreatment of animals than it is the love of vegetables. I’m somebody who loves vegetables because I like eating them, not because I worry that animals suffer when we kill them.”

Onlookers might think that Spain’s ever-evolving culinary landscape has always had meat and fish at its core – a visit to any bodega or supermarket would do little to disprove that notion – but beyond the hanging jamons, Spanish cuisine has always embraced the vegetable. From the days of veg-heavy paella with just a sprinkling of shrimp, to the impoverished Franco era when hearty stews filled with lentils and root vegetables were the norm, to today, where an evening of tapas delights can be enjoyed with barely a whiff of meat or fish, vegetables are a tasty staple of most Spaniards’ diet.

However, many veggie visitors to Spain will no doubt have struggled on occasion to eschew the chewy stuff. Few Spanish restaurants serve a specialised vegetarian option, often limiting non meat-eaters’ options to tortilla, patatas bravas, a plate of olives and copious helpings of cheese, bread and wine. Even the humble salad has been known to harbour a few flakes of tuna or cubes of ham lurking under the lettuce.

But it seems that things are changing, and fast. No longer are vegans seen as suffering from an illness, and asking for the veggie option will no longer be met with an inquisitive “but jamon is ok, si?” It’s an improvement, and merely adds another string to Spain’s bow as a culinary tour de force…