The Espinaler was born in 1896, when Miquel Riera i Prat settled in Vilassar de Mar (Barcelona), from a country house near the Espinal bridge (Argentona – Barcelona) and opened the Tavern Espinaler, where he offered the “drop” of wine and the “mix” to the villagers. The Tavern was the typical kind of Mediterranean establishment: small, cosy and with a rustic family air, which has been maintained over the years from generation to generation. In 1907, thanks to the work of Miquel Riera i Prat, the Espinaler achieved a licence to open the tobacconist’s, which gave a significant drive to the family business. During the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, Francisca Riera i Fornells, the founder’s daughter, took over the business. These were very tough years for the business, as Francisca was a widow and had four children when the Civil War broke out. The founder’s grandson, Joan Tapias i Riera, started the change of business: he brought in a very high quality vermouth, something very new at the time, a vermouth which, with the years and thanks to the determination of the Tapias family, has become one of the best-known products of the Espinaler. Little by little the range of products for hors d’oeuvres broadened and Joan Tapias introduced top-quality Galician preserves: white clams, cockles, mussels, tuna… CHANGE OF BUSINESS: PREPARATION OF ESPINALER SAUCE 1950 In 1952, Ventureta Roldós (Joan Tapias’s wife) created the formula for Espinaler Sauce: a combination of top quality vinegar, red pepper, black pepper and carefully selected spices, which with the years has made Espinaler Sauce known everywhere. REVOLUTION IN ESPINALER 70S Miquel Tapias Roldós, the founder’s great-grandson, took over the reins of the business in the 1970s and started a revolution in the Espinaler: he started to travel to Galicia to choose the best shellfish in person at the auctions. This was the start of the marketing of Espinaler canned food. In the year 2000, Espinaler started to expand its canned food products around a large part of Spain. In 2000, the Warehouse-Tavern-Store was opened in Vilassar de Mar: a 1,300 m2 warehouse where you can find both, the whole range of Espinaler products, more than 200, and a selection of the best gourmet products: a total of more than 4,500 references which form the gourmet empire of the Warehouse Espinaler. In 2011, the Espinaler opened the new Warehouse-Tavern-Store in Badalona. In 2012, as part of the Gourmets Fair in Madrid, the Espinaler shop in Vilassar de Mar was awarded the prize to the Best Specialised Gourmet Shop in SpainIn 2012 the Espinaler began to expand to Europe. Today the company exports its products to countries of Europe and Asia. David and Miki Tapias (the founder’s great great-grandsons) are the fifth generation to maintain the same philosophy as they were taught by their grandfather in 1946, and their father later: to offer a very high quality product, produced and packed at the right time.
