Barcelona boasts 35,000 shops and a five-kilometre shopping route from the Ramblas up to Avenue Diagonal. If that’s a few thousand shops and a few kilometres too many, here are three one-stop suggestions:
Las Arenas, a mall in an historic bullfight arena near Plaça Espanya, opened in 2011. The complex includes 115 shops, a variety of restaurants, a 12-screen multiplex cinema and the “Museum of Rock”, where you’ll find Elton John’s golden bathtub among other oddities. The Moorish style bullring accommodated 16,000 bullfight enthusiasts when it opened in 1900 but even before bullfighting was banned in Catalonia in 2012, there was little local enthusiasm for the sport. The last bullfight took place here in 1977, after which the building lay empty.
Eventually, plans were made to turn the arena into a shopping and entertainment facility; the architectural firm of Richard Rogers undertook the transformation. The red brick facade was raised one level and a theatre and concert space fitted under a domed cupola. There’s a panoramic vista from the “skywalk” on the roof terrace. Free access via the interior escalators or take the exterior lift for a small fee. For details visit: www.arenasdebarcelona.com. Open: Monday-Saturday from 10.00 to 22.00; restaurants open Monday-Thursday from 10.00 to 00.30, and on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10.00 to 03.00.
Conveniently located next to the Conference Centre, GranVia 2 could save you a shopping trip to town. This huge mall opened in 2002, featuring a “classical” design, with Roman and Greek references. It’s punctuated with obelisks, and sections of the ceiling mimic Rome’s Pantheon. There are over 180 shops, from Aire to Zara. Have a meal at one of 24 cafes and restaurants and follow that with a visit to the 15-screen cinema. For details visit: www.granvia2.com. Open: Monday-Saturday from 10.00 to 22.00.
Before malls, there were department stores. Barcelona’s biggest and best is the Plaça de Catalunya branch of El Corte Inglés (the name translates as “English Cut”). There’s a multilingual information centre just inside the main entrance; if you plan much shopping, this is where you can pick up a Carta de Compras – a booklet of stickers. One will be affixed to each purchase you make, then you collect and pay for them all at one time in the second basement. This is useful if you are coming from outside the EU as you can pay tax-free. There’s a small charge for the service.
A nice view of Plaça de Catalunya comes free with your coffee or lunch on the roof terrace. For details visit: www.elcorteingles.es. Open: Monday-Saturday from 10.00 to 22.00.
THE CITY’S SHOPPING GEMS
Unique to Barcelona, the shop Coses de Casa is in a picturesque 19th Century building on the lovely Plaza de Sant Josep Oriol in the Barri Gotic. As its name explains, the shop sells a wide variety of “things for the house” – towels, aprons, quilts, cushion covers, many in Catalan fabrics. But if things for the house are not on your shopping or gift list, there’s also a good range of travel accessories and soft toys for children. Plus the shop is worth a visit for its clever displays, like tempting two- and three-layer cakes, all made of towels. For details visit: cosesdecasa.com. Open: Monday-Saturday from 10.00 to 14.00 and from 16.30 to 20.00.
If your shopping list includes some wooden postcards, a bamboo bike and a bowl made of a carved coconut, head straight to Home on Earth. There, you’ll find these and a host of other unusual gifts for adults, children and the house – all made in direct collaboration with the artisans involved. The first Home on Earth shop opened in 2010 in the Raval; a second opened in the Gothic quarter in 2014. Both stock an eclectic range of high-design, sustainable products and organic foods. Find them at C/Hospital 76 and C/Boqueria 14 respectively. For details telephone: +34 (0) 933 158 558, or visit: www.homeonearth.com. Open: Monday-Thursday from 09.30 to 21.00, on Friday and Saturday from 09.30 to 21.30, and on Sunday from 10.00 to 20.30.
Vintage shopping combines the pleasure of treasure hunting with a walk in the city. If you’re near Barcelona’s Contemporary Art Museum, stroll down Carrer de La Riera Baixa, a pedestrian street lined with shops selling vintage clothing, leather bags, jewellery and the like. On a Saturday afternoon the street transforms into a street market; local residents as well as shops set up tables of knick-knacks. Or if you are serious about vintage, know what you want and are willing to pay for it, call in at one of the two Holala! vintage shops. They are located at Cl de Taller 47 and at Cl. Valldonzella 6. For details visit: www.holala-ibiza.com. Open: Monday-Saturday from 11.00 to 21.00.
