BEST SHOPPING AREAS
1. Passeig de Gràcia
Right in the heart of the city, Barcelona’s grand avenue of lavish Modernista buildings is fittingly home to the city’s premier fashion and design stores. From the international big league (Chanel, Gucci, Stella McCartney) to Spain’s heavy hitters (Camper, Loewe, Zara, Mango), it’s all here. The wide boulevards either side reveal more designer shopping, notably Carrer Consell de Cent, which is also dotted with art galleries, and Carrers Mallorca, València and Roselló.
Top design and fashion stores on Passeig de Gràcia
2. Carrer Girona
Those looking for fashion bargains should head to Carrer Girona (metro Tetuan), which is lined with designer and high-street outlet stores. Most offer women’s fashions including streetwear from brands such as Mango, evening wear and shoes from Catalan designers Etxart & Panno, and upmarket designs from the likes of Javier Simorra.
3. Plaça de Catalunya and Carrer Pelai
El Corte Inglés: Pl de Catalunya 14 • Open 9:30am–9:30pm Mon–Sat • El Triangle: C/Pelai 39 • Open 10am–10pm Mon–Sat
The city’s bustling centrepiece is also its commercial crossroads, flanked by the department store El Corte Inglés and the shopping mall El Triangle, which includes FNAC (books, CDs, videos) and Séphora (perfumes and cosmetics). Lined with shoe and clothing shops, the nearby Carrer Pelai is said to have more pedestrian traffic than any other shopping street in Spain.
4. Rambla de Catalunya
The genteel, classier extension of La Rambla, this well-maintained street (see Rambla de Catalunya) offers a refreshing change from its cousin’s more downmarket carnival atmosphere. Chic shops and cafés, as well as their moneyed customers, pepper the street’s length from Plaça de Catalunya to Diagonal. Here you’ll find everything from fine footwear and leather bags to linens and lamps.
Visitors on Rambla de Catalunya
5. Portal de l’Àngel
Once a Roman thoroughfare leading into the walled city of Barcino, today the pedestrian street of Portal de l’Àngel is traversed by hordes of shoppers toting bulging bags. The street is chock-full of shoe, clothing, jewellery and accessory shops.
6. Maremagnum
Muelle de España 5 • Open 10am–10pm daily
This shopping centre on the water’s edge is open every day of the year. All of the main clothing chains can be found here, along with a good variety of cafés and restaurants.
7. Carrer Portaferrissa
From zebra platform shoes to bellybutton rings and pastel baby T-shirts, this street’s other name could well be Carrer “Trendy”. In addition to all the usual high-street chains – from H&M to Mango and NafNaf – along this strip you’ll find El Mercadillo, crammed with hip little shops selling spiked belts, frameless sunglasses, surf wear and the like. After stocking up on fashion, stop for a box of prettily-wrapped chocolates at Fargas on nearby Carrer del Pi (No. 16).
8. Gràcia
Old bookstores, family-run grocery stores and independent boutiques selling trendy, often vintage, fashion, homewares and accessories cluster along Carrer Astúries (and its side streets) and along Travessera de Gràcia. A string of contemporary clothing and shoe shops also line Gran de Gràcia.
9. El Born
Amid El Born’s web of streets are all sorts of art and design shops. Passeig del Born and Carrer Rec are dotted with innovative little galleries (from sculpture to interior design), plus clothing and shoe boutiques. The best area for original fashion and accessories.
10. Avinguda Diagonal
Big and brash, the traffic-choked Avinguda Diagonal is hard to miss – a cacophonous avenue that cuts diagonally across the entire city. It is a premier shopping street, particularly west of Passeig de Gràcia to its culmination in L’Illa mall and the large El Corte Inglés department store near Plaça Maria Cristina. Lining this long stretch is a host of high-end clothing and shoe stores – including Armani, Loewe and Hugo Boss – as well as interior design shops, jewellery and watch purveyors, and more.
Handbag store, Avinguda Diagonal
