Weatherspoons to open first pub on European mainland

Spoons road tour

On Friday, the pub chain announced the boozer, called Castell de Santa Bàrbera, will be located at Alicante Airport in Spain.

Scheduled to open at the end of January next year, the pub will be open from 6am to 9pm each day and will have almost 1,000 sq ft of customer space on one level.

But it's difficult not to pick up on the huge irony of Martin, who was one of the most vocal Brexiteer businessmen during the 2016 referendum, deciding to branch out onto the continent he was so desperate for the UK to leave.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Martin said: "We are very much looking forward to opening our first overseas pub.

"We believe it will be popular with people travelling home from Alicante Airport.

"We aim to open a number of pubs overseas in the coming months and years, including those at airports."

Sun-burnt Brits fearing the menu will be made up of foreign muck need not worry though, as it sounds like the pub will be making little effort to integrate in the local Spanish culture.

A spokesperson confirmed to the Mail that 90 per cent of the menu will be made up of dishes seen on Wetherspoons menus in the UK, while it will also sell Guinness and Stella Artois.

Martin was the son Guinness marketing executive. He opened his first pub in 1979, originally calling it Martin’s Free House. However, he changed its name to Wetherspoons a year later.

The JD Wetherspoon business was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1992. It now runs more than 800 pubs and hotels, having carved a reputation for good value food and drink.

In 2016 he donated £200,000 to Vote Leave. He later lobbied Theresa May to back a no-deal Brexit before throwing his support to Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.