127 Best Places to Shop in Barcelona, Spain

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.

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.

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.

Barcelona’s love for retro and vintage reaches its pinnacle twice a month in two different squares. In Plaça Blanquerna, on the second Sunday of the month, Flea Market Barcelona (aka "El Flea") bring together the hipsters and the hippies, the dads and the dealers, who empty out their wardrobes and garages so that you can walk away with art-deco wall clocks or a 1970s hand mixer. Over in Plaça Salvador Seguí, on the first Sunday of the month, is the so-called "Fleadonia." 

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.

Scotswoman Katherine McLaughlin has put together the Gothic Quarter's most delightful cheese-tasting sanctuary on the site of an ancient buttery. (A 19th-century butter churn is visible in the back room.) A dozen artisanal cow, goat, and sheep cheeses from all over Spain, and olive oils, can be tasted and taken home. La Seu is named for a combination of La Seu Cathedral, as the "seat" of cheeses, and for cheese-rich La Seu d'Urgell in the Pyrenees. Katherine's wrapping paper, imaginatively chosen sheets of newspaper, give a final flourish to purchases.

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.

If you're looking for unique local gifts, this is the spot. The owner, Amy Cocker, hails from Australia and named her store after the address of her grandparents house in Canberra but the shop mainly showcases local talent, with items that include ceramics, jewelry, essential oils, candles, and other thoughtful pieces you’d never think to get but now want ten of. There’s also a dedicated bookshelf on everything from astrology and Tarot to crystals and travel notebooks. 

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.

Hands-down, Barcelona's best bookstore for years, La Central has creaky, literary wooden floors and piles of recent publications with many interesting titles in English.

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.

This mini-agglomeration of boutiques spreads out over three streets, together defining El Born’s penchant for the achingly à la mode. Menswear can be found at Bonaire 7, Rec 73 and 75, with the latter entirely dedicated to the natty threads of U.K. designer Paul Smith. Women can choose from predominantly French designers such as Isabel Marant and Sonia Rykiel at Rec 52.

Spotlighting ethical designers from Barcelona, slow fashion in the name of the game at this ladies' clothing store. Expect warm, earthy tones and fabrics that are either organic or up-cycled.

Paintings, sculpture, and graphic artwork by emerging contemporary artists mainly based in Barcelona are on view (and for sale) at this combination gallery, studio workspace, and events venue. 

Though it doesn't have a lot of English-language titles, this bookstore has a very pleasant café-restaurant upstairs; the space is often used for readings and other cultural events. Other branches of Laie are located around Barcelona, including major museums such as the Museu Picasso and Cosmocaixa.

Occupying the ground floor of Lluís Domènech i Montaner's Casa Lleó Morera, Loewe is Spain's answer to Hermès, a classical clothing and leather emporium for men's and women's fashions and luxurious handbags that whisper status (at eye-popping prices).