Club Franquícia launches with around 30 companies in Catalonia

The Associació de Franquícies de Catalunya (Catalan Franchise Association) has launched Club Franquícia, a platform bringing together around 30 companies to address the challenges facing franchise brands. Its president, Àngel Amat, outlined the initiative in an interview published by ON ECONOMIA on 25 October 2026, identifying expansion, digitalisation, management and international growth as its priorities.

A platform for franchisors and franchisees

The launch creates a new forum for Catalonia’s franchise community. According to Amat, Club Franquícia is designed to support both franchisors and franchisees. Its approach therefore brings together the needs of brands developing franchise networks and those of the people operating businesses under those brands.

The platform starts with around 30 companies. That figure represents its initial membership, rather than a future recruitment target. The announcement focuses on the challenges it aims to address, with an agenda ranging from network growth to business management and digital adaptation.

Amat, who is also expansion director at Aquí tu Reforma, links the initiative to the need to continue tackling the challenges facing franchising. In his view, Catalonia’s franchise community is in good health and has a high level of professionalism. The club is intended to support its continued development.

Four priorities beyond opening outlets

Expansion is one of Club Franquícia’s stated priorities. It sits alongside digitalisation, management and international growth: four areas that illustrate the project’s scope, which extends beyond simply opening new outlets.

For a franchisor, growing and managing a network are related but distinct tasks. Including both in the club’s agenda places the focus on brands’ development as well as their operations. Digitalisation adds another dimension, while international growth brings in the prospect of expanding beyond a brand’s home market.

These are the priorities announced by the association’s president. They should be understood as areas of work for the new platform, not as results already achieved by participating companies. The launch is the first reported milestone for an initiative designed to meet these shared needs.

A community of around 320 brands

The interview also provides a snapshot of the scale of franchising in Catalonia. According to the figures presented by Amat, around 320 brands are expanding through this model, with approximately 22,000 operating outlets and combined turnover of €7.5 billion.

The association’s president puts that turnover at the equivalent of 2.2% of Catalonia’s GDP. He also estimates that franchising employs around 84,000 people. These figures put the club’s launch into context and illustrate the scale of the sector the association’s initiative seeks to serve.

Amat estimates that Catalonia accounts for roughly a quarter of Spain’s franchise sector, with Madrid representing a slightly larger share. This regional comparison forms part of his assessment of Catalonia’s position within Spain.

Higher turnover per outlet and new challenges

Alongside the size of franchise networks, Amat highlights two trends: growth in the number of franchise brands and rising turnover per outlet. For the latter measure, he reports an increase of 4.3% over the past year.

This figure refers to turnover per outlet, not profit or guaranteed returns for a new franchisee. The distinction matters when interpreting the context in which Club Franquícia is launching: favourable sales trends are no substitute for assessing the economics of each business.

The new platform thus combines growth and management priorities in a community which, according to its association, continues to add brands and generate more business per outlet. Practical takeaway: for franchisors and franchisees, its four priorities provide a useful framework for organising their own needs: expansion, digitalisation, management and international growth. Sector-wide figures, however, should not be confused with the prospects of any individual outlet.