140 Best Places to Shop in Barcelona, Spain

Ever since Custo Dalmau and his brother David returned from a round-the-world motorcycle tour with visions of California surfing styles dancing in their heads, Custo Barcelona has been a runaway success with its clingy cotton tops in bright and cheery hues. Now with three branches in Barcelona (including an outlet shop at Plaça del Pi 2, in the Barri Gòtic) and many more across the globe, Custo is scoring even more acclaim by expanding into coats, dresses, and kids' wear.

Whether you're planning a trek through the Pyrenees or a beach yoga session, this mega–sports emporium should be your first port of call. From waterproof clothing to footballs to bike repairs, it caters to every conceivable sport and active hobby. Affordable and always busy, Decathlon is the best place to pick up practical travel clothing, such as that forgotten fleece jacket for a sudden cold snap.

Formerly La Nostra Ciutat, DesignPlace has spread to a few locations throughout Barcelona most foot-trafficked barris. There’s a little bit of everything here, from mugs, artful keychains, stationery, jewelry, and tote bags.

Desigual’s wildly appliqued and printed T-shirts and dresses, coats, and bags scream a psychedelic Mediterranean flavor that’s half 1960s Ibiza and half a Daliesque dreamscape. The company’s growth over the past decade has been phenomenal, with shops everywhere from Montreal to Melbourne. In a savvy move, or perhaps anticipating T-shirt overload, the company has now launched a range of hippie-chic jeans. Other branches of Desigual can be found throughout the city.

Sifting through the new and secondhand vinyl is part of the fun at Discos Paradiso. Since opening in 2010, the store has done well curating a large selection of electronic music: techno, house, IDM, experimental, and everything in between. There’s plenty of disco, soul, hip-hop, and rock recordings as well. If you’re lucky, your visit may coincide with one of their exhibitions or musical events.

Iconic and ubiquitous, this Spanish department store stocks clothing, shoes, perfumes, electronics, and much more. There is a wonderful gourmet market and food hall on the lower level, plus an affordable top-floor cafeteria with amazing views of Plaça de Catalunya.

Like a scene from Mad Men, El Recibidor oozes midcentury modern elegance. This large split-level showroom deals in furniture and objects, mainly of European provenance, from the Art Deco period onward. From small ceramic figurines to dining tables, table lamps, and vintage TVs, each item has been curated and restored with a deep understanding of the period’s aesthetic and value.

Popular with the uptown crowd, Erre de Raso makes clothes in bright and breezy shades and patterns. With colors ranging from electric fuchsias to bright indigo blues and materials ranging from satin (raso) to cottons and silks, the objective is to outfit stylish women in chameleonic outfits that look equally appropriate picking up the kids from school, dropping by an art gallery opening, and hitting a cocktail party in the same sortie.

Part café and part plant store, with pottery, prints, and design magazines also for sale, Espai Joliu is worth a visit to check out the cool raw space—distressed walls, exposed ceilings, concrete floors—prettified with greenery.

This "micro space" in the Born is where artisans Adriana Diaz, Anne Waha, and Emilie Bliguet create and sell their handcrafted jewelry made from silver, gold and specially selected fair-trade materials. Everything is handmade and many of the designs are specially created on request in this "responsible" jewelry studio. 

Smoking items of every kind along with pipes and cigarettes of all sorts are sold in this tobacco sanctuary, but cigars from Havana are the top draw.

This local sustainable eyewear brand stocks a range of colorful, edgy designs made using mineral lenses and natural, plant-based acetate. It's no coincidence that all the fashion-forward kids in Barcelona get their shades right here at Etnia's flagship store.

The third of the Fins de Siècles shops is, like its siblings in Brussels and Isle sur Sorgue, the product of the undying passion of its Belgian owners to rescue as much European design heritage from the 20th century as they can. Their particular fascination is with the art deco period ranging from the 1930s through the '50s, which they buy all over Europe and have restored and newly upholstered respecting traditional methods. Desks, sofas, vanities, and tables are shipped all over the world, but they also stock smaller (and more affordable) items like lamps, vases, rugs, and silverware.

For musical recordings and the latest book publications, this is one of Barcelona's most dependable and happening addresses. Regular concerts, presentations of new recordings, and art exhibits take place in FNAC, both here at the branch in the Triangle Shopping Center on Plaça Catalunya and one on Diagonal in the L'Illa shopping center. Much more than a bookstore, it's an important cultural resource.

This well-established menswear star, with four stores in town and another at the airport, markets selections from Armani Jeans, Scotch & Soda, Hugo Boss, and Blackstone, as well as its own collection of dapper suits, shirts, and gentlemen's accessories.

Old meets new at this small but stylish shop. Restorer Lídia Matos and carpenter Oriol Viñas put their skills to good use when opening Fusta’m. Matos, for her part, collects and restores unique objects from around the peninsula. In addition to decorative pieces and original furniture from the '60s and '70s, Fusta’m sells a selection of glassware, ceramics, macrame, and other home decor items.

The popular Argentinian visual artist Maxó Rennella uses his adopted home of Barcelona as his muse and interprets the city using various mediums. There are several Galería Maxó locations sprinkled across downtown but this is the largest, spanning two floors. The 3D collages are especially popular and easily fit in carry-on luggage. 

Art Nouveau furniture, art objects, and decorative paraphernalia share space here with sculpted terra-cotta figures, vases, mirrors, and furniture, nearly all in Barcelona's signature Moderniste style. Paintings by Art Nouveau stars from Santiago Rusiñol to Ramón Casas might turn up here, along with lamps, clocks, and curios of all kinds. Modern pieces, particularly sculpture, are also represented.

The storefront and interiors of this ancient little glove and accessory shop is well worth the visit. Lovely antique cabinets painstakingly stripped of centuries of paint display gloves, fans, shawls, mantillas, and a miscellany of textile crafts and small gifts.

Gràcia's "Herbolarium from Heaven" is widely considered among the best in Barcelona for herbal remedies, teas, spices, oils, natural cures and treatments, and cosmetics of all kinds. A mere deep breath of air here will probably cure whatever ails you.

Holala! is more a lifestyle than a vintage store. The owners travel the world in search of garments for the next trend or wave of nostalgia and the the huge space is chockablock with clothing, furniture, objects, knickknacks, and other flotsam of the distant and not-so-distant past. Hawaiian surfboards, high-waisted Levis, nubby 1980s knits—it’s all put into a postmodern context at Holala! There's a smaller Holala! selling clothes only at Tallers 73, also in the Raval.

Housewares and children's clothing with a homespun sensibility are on offer in this charming store run by a Scandinavian couple. Bags made of Thai tapestries, wooden instruments, felt baskets, and handmade lamp shades are among the accessories worth checking out here. There is a second shop in the Barri Gótic at Boqueria 14.

A fine list, regularly updated, of wines from Spain's top regions, like Priorat, Penedes, Montsant, and Ribera del Duero, make Iskia the bodega (cellar) of choice in Sarrià. The English-speaking owners are happy to make recommendations and talk about latest trends and best buys. Save space in your checked luggage for a bottle of fine tinto (red) or white.

The concept store of one of the city’s hottest interior designers provides mere mortals the chance to appreciate the Beriestain groove. Reflecting his hotel and restaurant projects, the shop offers an exciting mixture of midcentury modern classics and new design pieces, peppered with freshly cut flowers (also for sale), French candles, handmade stationery, and the latest international design and architecture magazines to dress up your coffee table.

If you're not the sort to flinch at the €100 price tag on a 30 ml bottle of hand lotion, then Sarrià's JC Apotecari, premier purveyors of natural and organic cosmetics and fragrances, is for you. Look for Hierbas de Ibiza bath gel and fragrances, made in Spain exclusively for the shop, as well as global brands like May Lindstrom, Rahua, and Kypris.

This rangy complex buzzes with shoppers swarming through more than 100 stores and shops, including food specialists, Decathlon sports gear, and Imaginarium toys, plus FNAC, Zara, Benetton, and all the usual international brands.

This busy emporium next to the church of Santa Maria del Mar stocks excellent cheeses, hams, pâtés, and homemade sobrassadas (pork pâté with paprika). Catalan botifarra sausage is the main item here, with a wide range of varieties, including egg sausage for meatless Lent and sausage stuffed with spinach, asparagus, cider, cinnamon, and Cabrales cheese.

As you can guess from the name, which is decorated with cod-fishing memorabilia, this shop specializes in bacalao—salted and dried salt cod, which is used in a wide range of Catalan recipes (such as esqueixada, in which shredded strips of raw salt cod are served in a marinade of oil and vinegar). Slabs of bacalao can be vacuum-packed for portability, and there are lots of recipe books if you're looking for inspiration.

This bookstore in the former chapel of the Casa de la Misericòrdia sells books amid stunning architecture and holds regular cultural events. You can sift through books of various genres, from anthropology and architecture to photography and poetry, and the English-language section showcases both best-sellers and lesser-known works. Behind the bookstore is Bar Central's lush garden restaurant, which is still a bit of a local secret.

Shop for gourmet Spanish-made olive oils, along with all sorts of items made from olive oil, including all-natural soaps, candles, skincare, and cosmetics. There are several outlets scattered throughout the city.