International expansion began in 2001 in Portugal, with a store in Lisbon, followed in 2006 with a store in Vila Nova de Gaia, opposite the city of Porto, and a third store was planned. In that same year of 2006 just as it opened its second store outside of Spain (in "Vila Nova de Gaia") the company announced expansion outside the Iberian Peninsula: Italy was to be the first country to host a store but, owing to the ongoing Eurozone crisis, the plan was suspended, as well as the opening of the third store in Portugal. Various food products bearing the El Corte Inglés brand are marketed in Latin American stores.