The thought that a paella may be a frozen item might stem from their way of advertising ‘platos combinados’ (literally combined plate). This goes back decades to when tourists first started visiting Spain and restaurants came up with the idea of hanging up pictures of their most popular dishes – this avoided the problems with language – you just pointed to what you wanted. Any of these that I’ve ordered have always been freshly prepared and cooked.
The thought that a paella may be a frozen item might stem from their way of advertising ‘platos combinados’ (literally combined plate). This goes back decades to when tourists first started visiting Spain and restaurants came up with the idea of hanging up pictures of their most popular dishes – this avoided the problems with language – you just pointed to what you wanted. Any of these that I’ve ordered have always been freshly prepared and cooked.
I was told that a certain ‘brand’ Paellador (that you see all over the place,) were usually frozen \ packet dishes…..
https://tourismwithme.com/8-things-that-tourist-should-not-do-in-barcelona