Illustrated Coastal scene inspired by Catalonia, near Vilassar de Mar.

Espinaler

Espinaler is a Catalan house founded in 1896 as a vermouth tavern in Vilassar de Mar; its canned-sardine line began in the 1970s and today spans a wide range of oil, spicy, tomato, escabeche, and xeito-method sardines.

At a glance

Notable facts

• Founded 1896 in Vilassar de Mar, Catalonia, as a wine-and-vermouth tavern by Miquel Riera y Prat.
• Canned-seafood production began in the 1970s under Miquel Tapias Roldós, who sourced sardines and shellfish directly from Galicia.
• Now run by the fifth generation of the founding family (David and Miki Tapias).
• Famous beyond sardines for its aperitif 'salsa Espinaler.'
• Sardine range spans three tiers — Premium (including Xeito-method), Classic, and the budget Pepus line — plus an organic/ecológico olive-oil sardinilla.
• No dedicated press/media kit page was found on espinaler.com; the company does publish a full downloadable product catalog PDF (see sources) listing every SKU with codes and case counts.
• Underwent a 2022 corporate reorganisation: Espinal Vilassar was absorbed and the company's legal name changed to Espinaler 1896 SL; the consumer brand and product range were unaffected.

Origin

Espinaler started in 1896 not as a cannery but as a wine-and-vermouth tavern in Vilassar de Mar, opened by Miquel Riera y Prat. The family business survived wartime hardship under his daughter Francisca in the 1930s, was rebuilt into a serious vermouth distributor by Joan Tapias Riera in 1946, and got its signature condiment when Ventureta Roldós formulated the now-iconic "salsa Espinaler" in 1952. The move into canned seafood came in the 1970s, when Miquel Tapias Roldós began traveling to Galicia to hand-select sardines and shellfish — a line that expanded nationally from 2000 onward. Espinaler is now run by David and Miki Tapias, the fifth generation of the founding family.

The current sardine range runs from a Pepus budget line in vegetable oil, through a Classic line (plain, spicy, tomato, and escabeche, all in the small 3/5-count format), up to a Premium line that includes an organic olive-oil sardinilla and a Xeito-method tin referencing the traditional Galician sardine-net fishing technique.

Products

Compiled from public reporting and the brand's own materials. Spot something we got wrong? Tell us.
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