Spain's very own Temple Bar is preparing for a summer of craic with Danny Boy.
The Salou staple - that goes by the same name of Dublin’s iconic cobbled pedestrian lanes that are crowded with pubs and live folk music - is getting ready for a busy season with its sister pub Danny Boy.
And manager Nikki McCormack explained why their spot has to be the first, last, and every stop every night on your holiday.
She said: “If you go to London, you see Big Ben, if you go to Dublin, you go to the Guinness Storehouse and if you go to Salou, you go to Danny Boy, it’s famous.
“It’s the best craic, you walk in and there’s already an atmosphere. Everyone is up dancing and after all that has happened in the world, it’s such a feel good place and everyone makes friends.
“Nothing matches an Irish pub, it’s the atmosphere here. You can have a cocktail with the sparklers and umbrellas at another pub, you’ll sit there and probably won’t talk to anyone.
“But if you come here you’ll become pals with everyone, even the staff.”
During the pandemic, both pubs were battered by a series of restrictions, but that didn’t stop them from having as much fun as possible.
“Last year we opened with a lot of restrictions, the tables had to be a metre apart, when you stood up you’d to put a mask on, it was difficult,” Nikki added.
“Even as hard as it was, the atmosphere was still incredible. Dancing on the tables couldn’t happen but we still had great fun. We were singing all the classics, it was still Danny Boy, even with a smaller capacity.”
Danny Boy is a conversation topic in Ireland.
Despite being a two hour flight away, anyone who has been in the pub definitely has a t-shirt saying “Another feckin' free t-shirt” with a leprechaun on it.
The t-shirt comes free with the Danny Boy bomb which consists of vodka, peach schnapps, 7up, grenadine and a bottle of blue WKD.
Nikki explained: “There’s a woman in Dublin who puts one in the charity shop window every year for Paddy’s Day.”
Chris Nicol, who is the manager at Danny Boy, is encouraging people to apply for a job with them this summer.
Even though it’s a pub away from home, he says “it’s like walking into your local”.
He said: “This summer, we’re getting all the staff and musicians in place, Covid was a learning curve, but we worked as a team and learned how to deal with it.
“We’re looking for people who want to work, it can be a working holiday but we want someone who wants to deal with people and someone who is open minded.
"We want them to experience a new culture and keep up the Irish culture.
“The weather here is great, there’s not a cloud in the sky, Spain is warm, it only rains 20 or 30 days a year here, we’re very lucky.
“All our customers make Danny Boy what it is, they create the craic. We’ve been working for 15 years and we hope the next 15 years are just as amazing.”
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