We own REAL cafe made famous by Gavin & Stacey – we’ve ‘taken over’ beautiful UK ‘island that’s just like Bondi beach’

GAVIN and Stacey put Barry Island on the map – but the real winner is the Italian Godfather of the seaside town whose family empire is making a fortune.

Marco Zeraschi, who runs the famous Marco’s Cafe from the iconic sitcom, reckons every day is a Bank Holiday after the Christmas special warmed the nation’s hearts again.

His Italian immigrant family came from poor beginnings but now has a monopoly in the Welsh seaside resort – including coffee shops, ice cream parlour, burger bar, souvenirs and rock candy shop.

Marco told how having his humble cafe on the seafront picked to be in the show was like winning the lottery – and the tills have not stopped ringing ever since.

Every day fans and celebrities from across Britain and the world make the pilgrimage to the spot where Ruth Jones’ character Ness ran her arcade, and Joanna Page’s Stacey worked pulling slushies in Marco’s cafe.

Even on a gloomy cold Tuesday in January the tables are buzzing with tourists and locals buying coffees and ice creams as they sit under the extended glass pavilion Marco built off the show’s success.

He has welcomed Prince William and Kate to his cafe, and three Prime Ministers have visited.

Dad-of-four Marco, who appeared in Series 3 of the show walking his dog along the beach, said: “It all started off, we were shutting down for a big refit, because Barry Island used to close down for the winter.

“Someone came along saying they were from a production company and they were doing filming and could I stay open.

“I said ‘no we’re having a refit’, and then he said the most beautiful words, we’ll pay you.

“It was only a couple of hundred quid. But I had no idea then what it would turn into.”

Marco said he recognised Ruth Jones from Little Britain, but he didn’t have a clue who James Corden was.

But since the show was first aired 18 years ago, Marco has made friends with all the stars, some of whom come back to visit on a regular basis.

Marco, who has 10 grandchildren, added: “Larry Lamb comes down here to go cold water swimming. He always sits and signs autographs and has pictures taken.

“Ruth Jones turns up now and again, she’s fab, she auctions herself out and the winner gets a cup of coffee at Marco’s with Ruth and to spend some time with her.”

He’s also had celeb visitors coming to see where the show was filmed including top snooker players Mark Williams, Ken Doherty and Dennis Taylor.

Musician Pino Paladino, who played bass for The Who, has also been down to see it.

Marco added: “What Gavin and Stacey has done is put Barry Island, everyone knows it now, and it shows it as a really positive, funny place to live, it’s given it this ambience.

“Curiosity is the best thing for tourism, and that’s what’s happened with Gavin and Stacey.”

He reckons because of its popularity the town employs an extra 100 people, and up to 200 in the summer months.

Marco was just 11 when he started selling burgers and hotdogs from a tiny seafront cafe opposite Barry’s famous funfair.

He can recall 20 years ago when a winter’s day would bring in just a few people walking their dogs on the beach.

But now business is booming more than ever – with the Zeraschi family cashing in.

His brother Tino runs Zio’s Gelateria just 100 yards away where they make “Britain’s best ice creams”.

And visitors rarely go home without a gift from Sofia’s Souvenirs, owned by Marco’s daughter-in-law Rachel or a traditional stick of rock from the Rock Shop, owned by his son Mauro.

If there are long queues at Marco’s, visitors can pop into Giovanni’s owned by his older brother John to see “what’s occurin”.

The smallest business outlet in the Zeraschi Empire is the Piccolo burger bar where Marco flipped burgers as a schoolboy.

He puts the family’s success down to hard work, strong Italian values, people’s love for Gavin and Stacey – and the strong support of his Welsh-born wife Ruth.

The father-of-four said: “When Gavin and Stacey arrived 17 years ago my Italian contacts across the UK were ringing me to ask: “How did you pull that one off?”

“It was certainly our lucky day when Ruth Jones and James Corden set Gavin and Stacey in Barry Island.

“People from all over the world come here because of the show – Australians absolutely love it and thousands have come to Barry to see where it was filmed.

“Some even remark that Barry is a bit like Bondi beach.”

Marco’s grandfather Giacomo came to Wales from the mountainous town of Bardi in North East Italy in 1912 looking for work which he found in the Ebbw Vale steelworks.

His sons Francesco and Joe followed and enlisted in WW2, joining the 15th Scottish Division and took part in D-Day.

Marco, 66, said: “They were Italians living in Wales, fighting with a Scottish regiment and landing on the Normandy beaches.

“After the war the family settled in the Welsh valleys mining village of Penrhiwceiber.

“Lots of Italians were living in Wales by then, many of them running cafes and ice cream parlours.”

Marco’s father Francesco arrived in Barry in 1958 and opened the Piccolo Bar, still owned by the family to this day.

In the late sixties young Marco would finish school and run to the bar to help his dad serve holidaymakers – many from the nearby ill-fated Butlins camp.

Marco later opened the seafront cafe – then known as Softa Freezebar – but would close it down in the winter and find work at nearby Cardiff Airport and on building sites.

When Gavin and Stacey was first aired on 13 May 2007 he had no idea it would turn his cafe and the rest of Barry Island into a goldmine.

The Italian-speaking businessman said: “Now every sunny day is like a Bank Holiday, even in the middle of winter.

“The idea to call the cafe Marco’s came from Ruth and James, I can’t thank them enough for that.

“At that time it was a small cafe with a little roof cover for people to sit under in the rain.

“When the show started bringing in loads of visitors I put a big glass roof over the top – that was the start of us expanding.”

In 2010 the cafe had a staff of just two people, now there are eight in the winter and 10 in the summer.

According to Marco, the life-sized backdrop outside the cafe featuring the show’s main characters is the most photographed board in Wales.

He reckons half a million people have posed there since he put the board up 10 years ago.

He said: “Two talented and very funny people – Ruth and James – have made a huge difference to the Island. I can’t emphasise enough how much they’ve done for our community.

“There’s something special about Barry Island and they captured that in the show.

“Not just that, they are fantastic people – I’ve become friends with them all.”

Marco has the telephone numbers of Ruth, James. Steffan Rhodri (Dave Coaches) and Larry Lamb who stars as Mick safely stored on his mobile phone.

The businessman says he will never retire but his eldest son Nino, 45, helps run the cafe and he is “nonno” to 10 grandchildren who will take over the Zeraschi dynasty when the time is right.

As the dust settles after the show’s epic final episode on Christmas Day, Marco is confident tourists will keep coming to see where their favourite comedy was filmed.

He said: “We will keep riding the wave – the show is in everybody’s hearts so people will keep coming for a long time yet.”

Gavin and Stacey fans Justin Mears, 50, and his wife Lisa, 55, both civil servants from Basingstoke, made a pilgrimage to Barry Island after loving the farewell show, watched by a TV audience of more than 19.3m people.

Justin said: “We’ve never been to Barry before but we love it and have recognised different locations from the show.

“We’ve bought a souvenir mug each from Marco’s to remind us of our visit.”

Surveyor Mark Whitehouse, 64, from West Bromwich, had a quick job in South Wales and his wife Lynne went along for the ride on the promise they would visit Barry Island.

Lynne, 68, said: “It’s our first time here and we love it. We enjoyed the Christmas special and it’s a shame it was the last episode but it was such a happy ending.”

Lisanne Mcevoy, 50, came from Manchester for her Christmas present.

She said: “We’re just massive Gavin and Stacey fans.

“It’s wholesome, it’s family life in all its brutal glory.

“We love the seaside anyway and we had to come here to see it.”