Shopping

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Not for the faint of heart and the weak of limbs, shopping in Barcelona can be quite a marathonic experience. The types of stores are as varied as the stuff they sell and the people who sell, and many go centuries back! So, just visiting shops can be a historic journey. Here are a few hotspots…

Department Stores

Voted best store, El Corte Ingles also has one branch northwest of town on Placa de la Reina Maria Cristina and another at on Avinguda Diagonal (tel 93 306 38 00; Placa de Catalunya). l'Illa del Diagonal – a huge mall, considered one of the city's more interesting architectural developments since the Olympic Games. Centre Comercial de les Glories, 250,000 square metres of shops, bars and eateries. Heron City, (Passeig de Andreu Nin, just off Avinguda de la Meridiana) hypermarket, a massive complex of shops, cinemas, bars, restaurants, etc.

Markets

The very quaint European style of merchandising lives on! Adventurous shopping at bargain basement prices. Els Encants Vells ('the old charms'; 8am-7pm, and to 8pm in summer), also known as the Fira de Bellcaire, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday next to Placa de les Glories Catalanes. Placa de Sant Josep Oriol – at Barri Gotic, a crafts market on Thursday and Friday; antiques on Thursday; coin and stamp collectors' (Placa Reial) on Sunday morning; Mercat de Sant Antoni (metro Sant Antoni) Sunday morning, old maps, stamps, books and cards.

Antiques

Carrer dels Banys Nous and the side streets in the immediate area in Barri Gotic; Bulevard dels Antiquaris, Passeig de Gracia 55, mostly furnishings, paintings, décor, a few specialty ones: Brahuer, jewellery, Dalmau, wooden picture frames, Govary's, porcelain dolls and Victory crystal.

Art

Along Carrer de Montcada are several commercial galleries, the biggest being Galeria Maeght (Carrer de Montcada 25); others, Galeria Surrealista, next to the Museu Picasso, the Sala Montcada of the Fundacio La Caixa (Carrer de Montcada 16), Galeria Beaskoa next door and Galeria Montcada, Museu d'Arte Contemporani de Barcelona in El Raval and its surrounds is artsy zone. On Carrer del Doctor Dou, Carrer d'Elisabets and Carrer dels Angels are small galleries and designer stores. Along Carrer del Consell de Cent are the classiest bunch of galleries.

There’s the prolific The Fundacio Joan Miro, Museu Picasso and Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona. For high-quality postcards of Barcelona, prints and the like, Estamperia d'Art (tel 93 318 68 30; Placa del Pi 1).
Books - unless rare, you’d best buy them elsewhere as they’re expensive. Bookshops often specialize in subject matter.

La Rambla - Llibreria & Informacid Cultural de la Generalitat de Catalunya (tel 93 302 64 62, Rambla dels Estudis 118). All sorts of literature on all things Catalan. Llibreria de la Virreina (tel 93 301 77 75, Palau de la Virreina, La Rambla de Sant Josep 99), for art, architecture and art history books, many with at least some relevance to Barcelona. Documenta (tel 93 317 25 27, Carrer del Cardenal Casanas 4), maps and English and French novels. Proleg (tel 93 319 24 25, Carrer de la Dagueria 13), for women's interests. Quera (tel 93 318 07 43, Carrer de Petritxol 2), for maps and guides, including for walking and trekking. Alibri (tel 93 317 05 78, Carrer de Balmes 26), one of the city's best general bookstores, that covers material and foreign language books as well. Altair (tel 93 342 71 71, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes 616), for travel—maps, guides and travel literature. The English Bookshop (tel 93 425 44 66, Carrer de Entenca 63), wide range of literature, teaching material and children's books. Laie (tel 93 518 17 39, Carrer de Pau Claris 85), novels and books on architecture, art and film in English, French, Spanish and Catalan, also a great cafe.

Clothing & Fabrics

Avinguda Diagonal for international fashion—Calvin Klein (No 484), Giorgio Armani (No 490; No 620), Gianni Versace (No 606) and Gucci (No 415). Jean Pierre Bua (No 469) hosts designers from Jean Paul Gaultier to Helmut Lang. Max Mara (tel 93 488 17 77; Passeig de Cracia 23). Loewe (tel 93 216 04 00; Avinguda Diagonal 570) is one of Spain's leading and oldest fashion stores, founded in 1846! Ortiga (Carrer de Bon i Fontesta 10) for pret-a-porter evening dresses. Adolfo Dominguez (Passeig de Cracia 32) a Spanish fashion brand name. Gonzaio Cornelia (Cnr Passeig de Cracia & Carrer de Casp) for men's clothing. Jeanne Weiss (tel 93 301 04 12; Carrer d'En Rauric 8) nice lines in African printed fabrics, cushions and shirts. Obach (tel 93 318 40 94; Carrer del Call 2) since 1924, hats in the heart of the Call. Loft Avignon (tel 93 301 24 20; Carrer d'Avinyo 22) hip young fashion stores. El Raval along Carrer de la Riera Baixa, a string of clothing stores clothes from pseudo military to grunge.

Crafts

Centre Catala d'Artesania (tel 93 467 46 60; Passeig de Gracia 55), dedicated to promoting and maintaining Catalan craft traditions, full of high-quality Catalan crafts (artesania). Natura Selection (tel 93 48819 72; Carrer del Consell de Cent 304) ethnic bags (leather and cloth), jewelry, pots, drums, candles, carvings, glass, baskets, tablecloths, rugs and more. Casa Miranda (tel 93 301 83 29; Carrer de Banys Nous 15) all kinds of woven baskets. Galeria Africa Negra (tel 93 319 16 31; Carrer dels Banys Veils 5), crafts from Africa. Cereria Subira (tel 93 315 26 06; Baixada de la Llibreteria 7) the oldest shop in Barcelona, since 1761. Ceramiques i Terrisses Cadi (tel 93 317 73 85; Carrer de les Magdalenes 23), heaps of plates, jugs, etc.

Design

Vincon (tel 93 215 60 50; Passeig de Cracia 96), slickest designs in local and imported furniture and household goods. Bd Ediciones de Diseno (tel 93 458 69 09; Carrer de Mallorca 291) collectors’ items of bric a brac by some of Barcelona's leading designers, since 1972. Artquitect (tel 93 268 23 86; Carrer del Comers 31) for building design enthusiasts.

Furniture

La Maison Coloniale (tel 93 443 22 22; Carrer de Sant Antoni Abat 61), exquisite colonial-style furniture amid a backdrop of remains of the 15th-century Gothic Esglesia de Sant Antoni Abat, almost totaled in the civil war.

Jewelry

Joyeria Bagues (tel 93 216 01 74; Passeig de Cracia 41), in Casa Amatller, is a name brand for high-quality rocks, but Cartier (tel 93 488 00 62; Carrer del Consell de Cent 351) is tops. Vasari (Passeig de Gracia 73) for gold. Tous (tel 93 488 15 58; Passeig de Cracia 75) for costume jewelry for younger spirits, plus accessories like sunglasses, original perfumes, bags. On Carrer de Montcada, heaps of silver.

Lladro & Majorica

Everyone covets these two best-known Spanish brand names in the world—Lladro porcelain and Majorica pearls. Garcia (tel 93 302 69 89; La Rambla 4), El Corte Ingles department stores too.
Music – Castello (tel 93 31820 41), at Nos 3 (classical music), 7 and 79, a large family business, since 1935. Rock & Blues (tel 93 412 59 86; Carrer dels Tallers 10) for vinyl and rare records. CD-Drome (tel 93 317 46 46; Carrer de Valldonzella 3), for house, hip-hop, trip-hop and other hops. New-Phono (tel 93 315 12 04; Carrer Ample 37), in Barri Gotic, since 1834 for Musical Instruments.

Perfume

Regia (tel 93 216 01 21; Passeig de Cracia 39) one of the best perfume stores in the city.
Photography - Arpi (tel 93 301 74 04; La Rambla 38), five floors for all things in photography (still, video and cinema), a standard port of call for pros. Carrer de Pelai 18), for good second-hands.

Souvenirs

La Rambla, for funky, junky kitsch. Barcelona Original, (in the building of the Oficina d'Informacio de Turisme de Barcelona, tel 906 30 12 82; Placa de Catalunya 17) for all kinds of quality souvenirs and gift items. Major museums and art galleries have gift/souvenir shops as well. El Ingenio (tel 93 317 71 38; Carrer d'En Rauric 6) for fantasy whims such as giant Carnival masks, costumes, theatre. La Botiga del Barca (Carrer de Aristides Maillol s/n), near Museu del Futbol at Camp Nou stadium; branch at the Maremagnum complex (tel 93 225 80 45), for anything football.