Sales at the San Román churrería in Barcelona never stop. With long lines of Asian tourists waiting to taste their traditional churros, already famous in Korea thanks to the video of Blackpink singer Kim Ji-soo, its owners have decided to expand the business to Asia.
In the Gothic quarter of Barcelona, one of its many classic cobbled streets, Banys Nous, has been home to this historic establishment since 1968, now run by the third generation.
The establishment has been appearing in tourist guides around the world for years, but it took the big leap when the actress and singer of the k-pop (Korean pop) group Blackpink tried them in Barcelona and published it on her social networks, on the Christmas 2022.
“It was a big boom; Although we already had a solid base because we were in the guides, this video undoubtedly helped us,” the owners of the business, Xavier Català and Francisco Almendros, explained to EFE.
The owners of the churrería will soon open establishments in South Korea under the same name: “We have given them the rights to our brand and we have taught them how to make churros, so that everything is like here,” they explained.
They plan to open five stores, three of them in Seoul starting in May and the other two in other locations in the Asian country yet to be finalized, while they are learning some basic words in Korean.
In addition to Korea, the owners of the churrería do not rule out opening establishments in other parts of Spain or in other countries: "We are not closing ourselves to anything," they have assured.
At the doors of the Barcelona churrería, a Korean couple, Grace Kim and Yongsoo Sung, explained to EFE that they came to this place on the recommendation of Korean forums on their first visit to the Catalan capital. It is not the first time they have tried churros, but it seems to them that these are “the first authentic ones,” Grace highlighted.
Another couple, in this case Japanese, Noboru and Chizuru, have explained that they found out about the establishment through Instagram and have confessed that, among all the types of churros offered, the ones they like the most are the “traditional ones, with chocolate.”
