Equipment as a service gains ground, reshaping gym investment in Barcelona

Why EaaS is moving from theory to operating model

Equipment as a Service is no longer just a finance trick. Gym Factory’s latest market estimate puts the global EaaS opportunity at $1.66 billion in 2025, climbing to $28.41 billion by 2034, a growth curve close to 37% a year. That kind of acceleration explains why fitness operators are starting to look at machines less as assets to own and more as capacity to contract.

In practice, the shift is simple but powerful: instead of locking cash into treadmills, reformers, strength rigs, and recovery gear, operators pay to use them through subscription or pay-per-use models. The value is not only in the hardware sitting on the floor, but in the ongoing relationship around maintenance, servicing, updates, and support. That changes the investment logic for gyms that are trying to grow without strangling their balance sheet.

Barcelona is a useful stress test for the model

Barcelona is exactly the kind of market where this matters. The city has to accommodate macro-gyms, Pilates boutiques, functional training centers, and concession-led operators all at once, and each one has a different appetite for capex. A club opening in a dense, high-rent neighborhood does not just need equipment, it needs speed, flexibility, and the option to change course without being trapped by sunk cost.

That matters even more because prime retail space is tight. Recent retail market work puts vacancy for prime premises in Madrid and Barcelona at around 4%, with rents under pressure in the most demanded locations. When the lease is expensive and the space is scarce, reducing the upfront equipment bill can make the difference between opening now and sitting on a plan for another year.

Where EaaS fits best inside the gym business

The clearest fit is in formats that need to move quickly or test demand before scaling. Boutique studios can add reformers, recovery tools, or a specialized training zone without blowing up treasury reserves on day one. Chains can use the model to standardize the feel and quality of clubs across locations, which is especially useful when a brand wants every site to look and perform the same.

That is why the model resonates with the boutique side of the market, where the experience is part of the product. Club Pilates signed a master franchise deal in 2021 to open 50 studios in Spain over the next decade, and the brand says it already has more than 1,300 studios worldwide. A sector note points to a further 10 million euro investment in Spain between 2025 and 2026, with four openings in September taking the country total to 24 studios and an average investment of 350,000 euros per center.

Barcelona is also becoming a proof point for premium concepts. The opening of Pilates10 in Gràcia and the arrival of Edan Studios on Calle Balmes 28, in an alliance between Trib3 and Anna Lewandowska, show how the city keeps pulling in higher-value fitness formats. For operators in that lane, EaaS can lower the entry ticket without forcing them to compromise the look, feel, or tech layer that makes the concept sell.

The Spanish market already has the scale to support this shift

The broader Spanish fitness market gives the model more room to breathe. OBS Business School estimates that sport and fitness represents 3.3% of Spain’s GDP, generated 2.1 billion euros in 2022, supports more than 400,000 jobs, and includes 4,561 gyms serving 5.4 million users. It also estimates that 16.5% of the Spanish population goes to the gym, which is a sizable installed base for any operator trying to monetize equipment more efficiently.

BDO’s fifth study on the Spanish fitness market paints a sector that is still healing but clearly moving forward. It found that 68% of facility managers said revenues had returned to pre-Covid levels in 2023, although half of them believed full recovery would not arrive until the second half of the following year. That is the kind of environment where operators want agility more than ownership, because growth is real but not so predictable that every purchase feels obvious.

EuropeActive and the European Commission are telling the same story at a continental level. Their 2024 report frames the ambition for Europe’s fitness sector as reaching 100 million members by 2030, which signals a market still pushing for expansion, retention, and recurring revenue. EaaS fits that logic neatly because it turns equipment into part of a service stack rather than a one-off buy.

The real trade-off is cash today versus control tomorrow

This is where the model gets interesting, and where a lot of operators need to be brutally honest with themselves. EaaS improves liquidity because it avoids a heavy initial outlay, and it adds flexibility because machines can be upgraded or scaled with less pain. But the operator is also giving up some control, because the provider becomes part of the operating model rather than a one-time vendor.

That dependency is not a small detail. If the service level slips, if upgrades lag, or if contract terms are rigid, the monthly convenience can turn into a long-term drag. The business case only works if the equipment is used hard enough, the space is monetized well enough, and the contract leaves room for growth rather than locking the gym into yesterday’s setup.

For independent gyms in Barcelona, the discipline has to be sharper than the sales pitch. The right comparison is not just monthly fee versus purchase price, but monthly fee versus purchase price, maintenance, downtime, training, replacement, and the revenue the equipment helps generate per square meter. If a reformer studio or recovery zone can earn more because it opened earlier, refreshed faster, or tested a neighborhood without overcommitting capital, EaaS earns its keep.

A sensible operator should pressure-test a few things before signing:

• What is included in the monthly payment, service calls, replacements, upgrades, software, and onboarding or not?

• How fast does the provider respond when a machine goes down?

• What happens if the concept changes and the floor plan needs different kit?

• Is there a buyout path, or is the business stuck renting forever?

• Does the equipment help drive measurable revenue, or just soften the capex hit?

The bottom line for Barcelona

Barcelona’s fitness market is too competitive, too space-constrained, and too concept-driven for old-school equipment ownership to be the only answer. EaaS will not replace every purchase model, and it will not magically improve unit economics on its own. But for operators who need to open faster, test neighborhoods, refresh formats, and preserve cash, it is becoming a serious way to build clubs without burying the balance sheet under steel and service costs.

The smartest gyms in the city will not think of it as a cheaper way to buy machines. They will treat it as a way to buy time, flexibility, and upgrade speed, while keeping a close eye on the provider relationship that makes the whole model work.