Planet Fitness appoints Juan Francisco Ramírez to drive Spain expansion

Planet Fitness has put Juan Francisco Ramírez in charge of its Spanish expansion, a move that points straight at Barcelona and the surrounding metro area as a priority market. The appointment lands after Planet Fitness, Inc. posted first-quarter 2026 revenue of $337.2 million, up 21.9 percent year on year, and net income attributable to the company of $51.6 million, with total membership at about 21.5 million.

For Barcelona, the signal is clear: Planet Fitness is not treating Spain as a side project. The chain already shows clubs in Sant Joan Despí and Eixample (Casp), both in Barcelona, plus a site in Sabadell, which puts it inside one of the country’s most crowded fitness corridors. Its Spanish website pitches memberships from 18 euros a month and says most clubs are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, a low-cost, high-access formula designed to win on volume rather than premium positioning.

That model now has to prove itself against a market that rewards speed, location and relentless consistency. Planet Fitness España recently confirmed two more openings, PF Montigalá in Cataluña and PF Sevilla Norte in Andalucía, bringing its Spanish total to 20 clubs. The expansion pattern suggests the company wants density in major urban zones and nearby commercial areas, not just one-off flagship sites.

Ramírez arrives from Énergie Fitness Iberia, where he had served as expansion director. That chain already operated more than 20 clubs in 2026 and had set a target of passing 30 by 2027, so he is moving from one growth story to another. For Planet Fitness, the hire is less about adding a name to the org chart than about tightening execution in a market where brand visibility is no longer the hard part.

The harder question is where Planet Fitness still sees room to grow. In Barcelona, the value proposition is familiar: low monthly pricing, broad access and a standardised club format that can scale quickly. What Ramírez has to deliver is a sharper answer on site selection, rollout pace and operating discipline, because in a city already thick with gym options, the brand will only expand if it can turn visibility into disciplined market share.