Boutique fitness studios: is there still room in Spain, or are you too late?

In the first half of 2026, 220 gyms opened in Spain, 48% more than a year earlier. But 20% less money was invested. That contradiction is the whole story, and it decides whether your project works or not.

1. More openings, with far less money

The first-half 2026 figures stand out: 220 gym openings in Spain, 48% more than in the same period a year earlier, spread across 126 municipalities. That is a record.

But the investment behind those openings was €166 million, 20% less than a year earlier. Do the division and average capital per opening falls from roughly €1.39 million to about €754,000. Almost half.

More openings with less capital means one concrete thing: smaller, cheaper formats. That is exactly what happens when a sector fills up. Operators stop building large facilities and start dropping small boxes wherever one still fits. It is a race to take up floor space, not to create a market.

2. And almost half of what opens is boutique

Of those 220 openings, 102 were boutique studios: 44.5% of the total, growing 70% year on year. The mid-market segment almost doubled, to 39 openings. Premium, by contrast, has all but disappeared: barely 1.4%.

The detail that matters: mid-market opened 39 sites and invested more than €66 million. Boutique opened 102 and spent less than that. Each boutique studio is a small bet, which is why there are so many. How cheap it is to get in is exactly what multiplies the competition.

3. Spain is no longer the wide-open market people describe

The usual argument is that Spain has plenty of headroom compared with Europe. That is no longer true. With 7.1 million members and 14.2% penetration, Spain sits five points above the European average (9.3%) and has caught up with Germany. The real headroom is against the UK and the Nordics, not against Europe in general.

There is, though, a far more useful number for anyone about to open: 87% of Spaniards exercise every week (the highest rate on the continent) and those training at home have fallen from 50% to 42% in three years. The business is not about convincing anyone to train. It is about winning over the people already training on their own.

4. Barcelona has already seen how this film ends

Here is the figure that answers the question in the headline better than any opinion. Barcelona is the most mature urban market in Spain: 929 gyms in operation, 733,061 members and €476 million in revenue.

And within that city, the split between boutique centres and the rest reveals something that completely changes the business plan of anyone thinking of opening one. It is the single most important figure in the whole study, and it is in the full report.