Romarey Ventura and Nayan Kao open fitness center on Muntaner street

Romarey Ventura has moved her fitness push onto Carrer Muntaner in Barcelona, formalizing the project through Fitjump SL, a company set up to provide physical-activity services and organize events linked to that field. The visible partner at her side is Nayan Kao, the daughter of chef Josep Maria Kao, placing the venture at the intersection of sport, lifestyle and one of the city’s best-known hospitality families.

The address matters. Barcelona’s boutique fitness sector has become crowded, but it remains attractive for brands that can combine in-person training with a wider community offer. Fitjump SL points to that shift in the market: this is no longer only about class timetables and gym equipment, but about events, digital communities and a brand that can hold attention beyond the studio floor. A central Muntaner location gives the project visibility in a part of the city where premium concepts need a clear identity to cut through.

Star power may help, but it can also distort the picture. Ventura brings instant recognition as Jordi Alba’s wife, while the project arrives after another former Barça-linked name, Anna Lewandowska, opened her own fitness space in Barcelona in November 2024. That pattern underlines how the city’s wellness market is drawing public figures who can turn personal brands into consumer businesses. The opportunity is real, but so is the competition. In a city with a deep bench of boutique operators, a recognizable name is only the opening move.

Kao’s role gives the project a different kind of weight. Nayan Kao comes from the Kao family, one of Barcelona’s most recognizable hospitality names, and she and her sister Meilan have helped keep that family legacy alive in the city. That background suggests a business model that can lean on more than fitness alone, with community-building and hospitality instincts likely to shape how the brand is presented and how clients are retained.

Ventura and Alba are also expanding beyond football through JR Alven, a company created between the final months of 2023 and the first months of 2024 in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. Its main purpose is real-estate investment management, although it also covers marketing and sports intermediation. Taken together, the two ventures show a clear strategy: build income streams outside the pitch, and use recognizable names to enter sectors where lifestyle, property and sport now overlap. Fitjump SL will have to prove that its Muntaner address and its high-profile founders are more than branding, because Barcelona’s fitness market rewards concepts that can deliver a distinct experience as well as a familiar face.