To eat at Bar Willy, in La Torre de la Horadada (Alicante, Spain) you must reserve. It is always full, even when the season is slow in this coastal area, which in summer is filled with European tourists. Its owner is Cuban, from Playa (Havana). His name is Alejandro Ramírez Mustelier and in Cuba he did not have his own business although he considers that going out to sell rum, after his work day at a state company, can be considered a form of entrepreneurship.
Although competition in gastronomy is fierce in Spain, Alejandro Ramírez and his wife, Elenita, have managed to get the residents of La Torre de La Horadada hooked on tamales, ropa Vieja, fried yucca, tostones and, especially, the Cuban sandwich. The business has been open for 16 years, but the beginnings were not easy. In fact, Ramírez confesses that when he had been running the bar for two years, it crossed his mind to transfer it, but he endured and the patience and effort have paid off. “When things get worse, that’s when the goal is closer,” he said.
Currently, Alejandro Ramírez, in addition to Bar Willy, in La Torre, has a cocktail bar (La Bodeguita), in Los Alcázares (Murcia), a nearby town and is starting a new plumbing business that saves up to 30% of water on the bill of large consumers. And a third of the bill is noticeable, in a region (the Spanish Levante) hit by drought, where people often pay more for the water bill than for the electricity bill.
Alejandro Ramírez left Cuba married to an Italian girl, whose family was closely linked to gastronomy. It was she who gave him the impetus to start the business. That is why they moved from Italy to Madrid and from Madrid to La Torre de La Horadada. In Madrid, Ale, as her friends affectionately call him, dedicated himself to distributing advertising. And that agility that she achieved in the distribution of leaflets was used in La Torre to publicize Cuban parties that she organized at Bar Willy with “free food” and charging only for drinks.
It took a while for people to get used to the idea that the traditional Bar Willy would become, little by little, a Cuban food bar that only opens eight months a year. And now, when closing time arrives, many residents of the area order tamales to freeze.
For those who want to start a business, Alejandro Ramírez recommends looking for a good location and dedicating a lot of time and effort. In his case, he and his wife are in the kitchen and don’t let anyone get involved, because cooking, he explains, is more than ingredients: “It’s heart.”
Now, in addition, they have bought a house in Cancún to rent out. The business continues to grow.
