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At 86, San Ginés owner Pedro Trapote says he cannot live on his pension and still runs the business

From Clarín · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Pedro Trapote, the 86-year-old owner of Madrid's San Ginés chocolatería, says he continues working because he does not want to retire.
  • He says his pension is below 500 euros while his self-employed contribution costs 300 euros, and describes retirement as "starting to die."
  • Trapote also founded Joy Eslava and expanded San Ginés, a Madrid institution known for chocolate and churros, to markets including Tokyo, Shanghai, Mexico and Argentina.

At 86, Pedro Trapote still spends his days overseeing San Ginés, the Madrid chocolatería where tourists sit in its traditional green chairs for hot chocolate and churros. He says his pension does not reach 500 euros, while his self-employed contribution costs 300 euros.

Retiring is starting to die.

· Pedro TrapoteTrapote explains why he wants to continue working at age 86.

Trapote owns San Ginés and founded Joy Eslava, the historic nightclub a short distance from Puerta del Sol. He told El Mundo that he does not want to stop working. For him, "retiring is starting to die."

San Ginés first opened in 1894. Trapote bought the business 45 years ago and helped turn it into an international brand. In recent decades, it expanded to Tokyo and Shanghai, followed by Mexico and Argentina. El Mundo reports that the chocolatería receives nearly two million visitors each year.

You see people with such wonderful entrepreneurial drive that it encourages you to keep going. It rubs off on you.

· Pedro TrapoteHe describes how his work as a jury member for the Jaime I Awards motivates him.

Trapote says he still needs to remain closely involved in the businesses and expand them where possible. He also credits his work as a jury member for Valencia's Jaime I Awards with encouraging him to continue. "You see people with such wonderful entrepreneurial drive that it encourages you to keep going. It rubs off on you," he said.

It was there that I realized tourism would be Spain's real source of wealth.

· Pedro TrapoteTrapote recalls running a tourist-oriented luxury handicrafts and leather-goods store in Sitges.

Before entering the food business, Trapote ran a luxury handicrafts and leather-goods store for tourists in Sitges, Catalonia. He says that experience convinced him tourism would become Spain's real source of wealth. After visiting New York's Studio 54 in the late 1970s, he bought an old theater and transformed it into Joy Eslava, which opened in February 1981. Later, he noticed crowds leaving the nightclub looking for food and bought San Ginés, turning that late-night demand into a business that now reaches far beyond Spain.

It is a very humble product, the churro with chocolate, but very enjoyable.

· Pedro TrapoteHe describes San Ginés's signature hot chocolate and churros.
About this summary

Originally published by Clarín in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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