Moroccan-born barista turns €56 into a successful café in Spain
After arriving in Spain from Morocco at the age of four, Nabila El Gamouchi had a turbulent career. After losing her job and going four months without pay, she opened her own café with unexpected help from a former customer who had harshly criticized her work.
One day, while working at a café in Olot, Catalonia, Nabila El Gamouchi serves a regular customer a coffee. The man tastes it and tells her she has just ruined his day, before calling her preparation “shit.” The humiliation stays with the young woman, who is new to the job and has no formal training. She then decides to teach herself how to prepare coffee.
Of Moroccan origin, Nabila arrived in Olot with her parents when she was four. Curious and determined, she gradually developed a passion for specialty coffee. Her efforts paid off: she honed her skills, built up a loyal clientele and won several professional distinctions, including the title of Girona’s best barista.
Her work became so popular that customers regularly asked to be served by her. But in 2014, the café where she worked closed its doors. Nabila was left with four months of unpaid wages, rent to pay and a ten-year-old son to raise.
She had long dreamed of opening her own place. The closure of her workplace hastened her decision. She went to her usual bank to apply for a loan, but her application was rejected. The bank employees even laughed in her face, she said in an interview with Spanish daily La Vanguardia.
That was when her former customer reappeared. The man who had so harshly criticized her coffee worked at another bank. He helped her secure a small loan there. By also drawing on her unemployment benefits, Nabila managed to raise 8,000 euros to start her business.
A café opened with just 56 euros in the till
The money went toward renting premises, buying essential equipment and covering her initial expenses. On November 22, 2014, two months after losing her job, she opened her café. At 5 p.m., as she welcomed her first customers, she discovered that she had just 56 euros left in the till.
The opening was nevertheless a success. Three years later, she completely renovated the premises to create Nabila Cafè, a place dedicated to specialty coffee and welcoming customers.
In 2018, the entrepreneur spent two months in Colombia to deepen her knowledge. She worked on a plantation, took part in harvesting the beans and learned about the different stages of processing, from drying to roasting.
After running her business for several years, Nabila chose to hand it over to a customer so she could develop new ventures. She moved into consulting and supporting aspiring entrepreneurs, while continuing her career as a coffee specialist. In September 2026, she was still appearing on Catalunya Ràdio as a barista at Cafès Cornellà, sharing advice with listeners.
