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The power of social networks is immense and is demonstrated once again with the example of this small churrería in Barcelona that has just landed in Seoul, thanks to a viral video shared by the singer Kim Ji-soo, member of the girl band Blackpink. It is the Churrería Manuel San Román, an iconic churrería that has been open in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter since 1968. Following its success in Korea, it has just landed in Seoul with its first pop-u, available until the end of February.
But that’s not all, because they are already planning to open up to three branches there in the coming months. A Korean businessman has seen the potential of this typical Spanish sweet -similar to the sweet tteokbokki from there- and has acquired the exploitation rights of the brand to recreate the Catalan churrería in 5 different locations. According to Tot Barcelona, the current partners of Manuel San Román reached an agreement with the Korean businessman to cede the rights to the name and aesthetics for the next 10 years, offering them “logistical support” and “quality control”, but they will have nothing to do with the management.
As for the current pop-up, it has been installed in the Hyundai shopping mall in the Korean capital. Regarding the original location in Barcelona, as a result of going viral, they started to include the churrería in a lot of guides to Korea and recommendations to visit in Barcelona. So it is common to find long queues in the Gótico, with many Koreans, waiting to try their delicious churros.