Shopping Possibilities
Municipal markets, art galleries and antique shops can be found in Barcelona alongside crafts shops, fashion shops and open air markets. To stroll around the streets of Barcelona from shop to shop is to discover a world full of possibilities to satisfy all kinds of taste and all pockets.
Barcelona itself is like a large shop whose main axis of shops, known as the Shopping Line, consists of five-kilometre pedestrian precinct with wide pavements which can satisfy the most demanding requirements. Craftsmen's workshops, exclusive shops, franchises, shopping centres and street markets all go to make up the shopping offer of Barcelona. There are three main shopping areas in the city: Centro, Eixample and Diagonal.
Fashion in Centro:
The picturesque streets of the Born and Gotic areas have a large number of shops dedicated to the latest fashion designs. Shops selling the latest in clothes and fashion, shops dedicated to interior design with the newest of ideas, art galleries, avant-garde hairdressers and restaurants serving dishes which are a fusion of different tastes are just some of the establishments to be found in Born, a bohemian, multi-cultural neighboured that is always bubbling with life.
Likewise, a stroll through the cobbled streets of the Gotic quarter in the heart of the city will allow you to enjoy an infinity of shop windows combining tradition and modernity. Both the antique and crafts shops near the Cathedral, and the stalls selling birds and flowers in La Rambla or the large franchises and shopping centres in the plaça Catalunya and the avenida Portal de l'Àngel, awaken the visitors' interest and are an excellent place to go shopping in this historic part of Barcelona.
Prestigious shops in Eixample:
The most exclusive shops of the city are to be found in the straight avenues and modern architecture around the passeig de Gràcia and the Rambla de Catalunya. Exclusive national and international fashion designers, exquisite jewellers, prestigious art galleries, specialist bookshops and shops selling all kinds of gifts can be found alongside modern restaurants and cafeterias in an elegant and bourgeois atmosphere.
Shopping centres and luxury in Diagonal:
Part of the Diagonal extends from the passeig de Gràcia to the plaça Francesc Macià, and this is the home of business and commerce in the city. In this part of the city and in the Pedralbes quarter the visitor will find original architecture along with a complete commercial offer consisting of prestigious fashion shops, furniture stores, interior design establishments and famous shopping centres.
Street markets and craft stalls in Poble Espanyol:
In various parts of the city, such as the plaça Nova, the plaça del Pi or the plaça Real, you can find street markets almost every day of the week, selling unique objects, craft work, antiques, stamps, cinema posters, records, books and coins.
If you are interested in crafts, it is a good idea to go to Poble Espanyol de Montjuic where there are many workshops dedicated to ceramics, glass or toys.