A chiringuito is usually a bar/café/restaurant on the beach. They are usually very informal, and you can go in your bathing suit, T-shirt, and flip-flops (although nowadays some of them have gone a bit upmarket). Yes, you can find these places on beaches all over the world, but do they have such a cool name as we have for them in Spain?

The use of the word chiringuito in Spain has now come to mean any sort of establishment with little in the way offoundation, paperwork, etc. As in: “Joe Shmoe has just opened a financial chiringuito…”

But back to the beach, Celia and I recently spent a few days in Costa Ballena in the South of Spain, where the chiringuito culture is outstanding. Within walking distance of our apartment, we can reach at least three or four chiringuitos. The closest one is Kanguro, where they have the traditional espeto, a fish barbecue. An espeto is usually an old rowing boat filled with sand on which an open fire is used to cook a whole fish, usually one that was fished that morning, skewered next to the fire (see photos)

I then spent a few days in Mallorca with the family; this has been a family tradition since childhood (see here). The tiny beach we stay at has a cute little chiringuito called Bar Casetas where I take a mid-morning cortado and an even cuter one on a little rock island a few feet from the beach. Unfortunately, this island chiringuito, which makes decent paellas, has now become TikTok-famous, and it has become overrated, overpriced, and impossible to reserve; no more walking over in your wet bathing suit to have a paella for lunch.

Whenever I am at a beach, especially in Spain, I always check out the chiringuito situation!

Do you have a special chiringuito? Tell us in the comments below!