US health and fitness giant, Planet Fitness, which flagged plans to launch in Spain back in February, has today (22 July) officially announced the opening of its first Spanish club in the Via Sabadell shopping centre in Barcelona.

Colleen Keating – who took over as CEO last month – says the 10 per cent penetration rate in Spain offers an incredible opportunity and believes the judgement-free, affordable concept will resonate.

“We're leveraging our strong balance sheet to drive growth at a faster pace and demonstrate proof of concept in exciting new markets as we continue to position Planet Fitness for sustained growth and value creation," she said.

Planet Fitness believes there is significant potential in Spain and has opened the first sites as a joint venture with a franchise partner and has capacity for 7,500 members, with 400 people on-site at any one time.

In addition to franchising, Planet Fitness has hinted it might also look to grow by acquisition in Spain and Tom Fitzgerald, recently retired FD is on record as saying be believes there's room for 300 Planet Fitness locations in Spain.

"We see strong growth potential in Spain and are working tirelessly to build a solid, long-term foundation within the country," said Vicente Bañobre, who will be leading day-to-day operations and expansion in Spain for Planet Fitness. "We're thrilled to offer an affordable fitness solution and best-in-class member experience to the Sabadell community."

Bañobre told Miquel Lopez-Egea at CMD Sport the company will target cities across Spain with populations of more than 80,000, starting with Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia, with ambitious growth plans: "Planet Fitness is not entering a country to open just ten or twenty gyms," he said. “It's not unreasonable to think that we could have a hundred centres by 2030.”

Membership at the new, 2,000sq m, 100-station club will be €15/month – the new rate for the operator, which increased its prices in May for the first time in 20 years.

With more than 19.6 million members, Planet Fitness has 2,599 locations spread across all US states, as well as Puerto Rico, Canada, Panama, Mexico, Australia and now Spain. Growing fast, it has more members than any other fitness brand.

This fast-growing franchise will be watched closely by Basic-Fit, which is currently the dominant force in Iberia following the acquisition of 42 McFit clubs from RSG Group earlier this year.