The Repsol guide soletes (meaning “little suns”) are a fairly new invention. The first set came out in 2021 to promote Spanish hostelry, and each season the guide adds more, as in lots more.
What are the soletes?
These distinctions, or “little” suns, are given to casual, inexpensive, modest places where one can have something to eat or drink, such as:
village family-run restaurants, beach bars (chiringuitos), tapas bars, tascas, tabancos, kiosks, cider houses, pizzerias, heladerías, horchaterías, hamburgueserías, churrerías, cafeterías, pastelerías, highway roadhouses, (ventas), “fast good”, indoor market stands, wine bars (vinotecas), city outdoor terraces, even convents whose nuns bake and sell their convent sweets.
How I use the soletes:
When seeking out a bar for tapas in an unfamiliar town, I look first to see which have received a Repsol solete.
When we go to the Sierra de Guadarrama, we stop by a solete La Chimenea for an aperitivo, a drink + croqueta before heading to our Michelin recommended restaurant.
When traveling on the highways, Spain’s autovías, we look for a solete when in need for a break/quick lunch.
(The Area Boceguillas on the A-1, km 115, on the way north to the Basque Country or Rioja is a favorite coffee/tortilla stop.)
When I want to buy cookies or cakes in the provinces, I look for a bakery or even a convent to purchase my sweet treats from the nuns
When I’m in the mood for non-Spanish food, a modest ethnic restaurant, I’ll look for a solete (for Mexican, Tatema…for Middle Eastern, Taberna Jam…for Vietnamese, Yeca Estrit Fud)
When I want to nosh at an indoor market, I look for a solete (Casa Dani, Mercado de la Paz)
When we go out with friends for Saturday night cocktails (Savas, Salmon Guru)
For 2026 there are 808 restaurants in Spain with Repsol suns/soles (1, 2 or 3)
(The Repsol guide Portugal has separate awards)
This is in addition to the many restaurants having a Repsol recommendation
For 2026 there are 291 restaurants in Spain with Michelin stars (1, 2 or 3).
(Portugal has its own Michelin awards)
in addition there are all the many Bib Gourmands or just Michelin recommendations, not stars
There are too many Repsol casual soletes now to count, in 2023 there were 3,300!!, as more come out in each season, but you can see them by regions here:
I have a dear friend whose restaurant sports a Repsol sun, which he first won in 2021. He does get a bit frustrated when diners (without noticing his exterior plaques or doing their research) just assume that he has a Michelin star, and their demands are very high.
