Shopping in Barcelona

Women will love Barcelona for its shopping oportunities so guys, be ready for long shopping sessions.

There are lots of shopping areas all over the city, but lets focus on city centre.

El Corte Inglés is probably the most important and known department store with different branches although the biggest and most popular one is located in Plaça Catalunya so it is impossible to miss it. You can buy almost anything in there, from stationery to household appliances.

Tip: There is a restaurant on the top floor with really nice views of Plaça Catalunya so if you are looking for a nice break, take the lift up and have a coffee there.

Just in front of El Corte Inglés, there is ‘El Triangle’, triangular shape building with a large number of shops. The most ‘interesting’ ones are FNAC (books, DVDs, CDs and electronic stuff) and Sephora (perfume store), although there are several others.

Avda. Portal de l’Àngel and Passeig de Gràcia are the most popular shopping streets in Barcelona. They are located just beside Plaça Catalunya. In these streets you can find Zara, Mango, Massimo Dutti, Springfield, Secret Woman, H&M, Benetton, … women will love it !

There are also lots of different shops all around city centre so walking around is worth it as there are always interesting shops.

Music and DVDs are quite cheap in Barcelona, although they cannot beat online stores. There are several music shops located at Carrer Tallers. Most of these places are not very comercial so you can find really interesting stuff with very knowledgeable staff.

The most popular sport shop in town is Decathlon with several branches all over the city although the most popular one is the one located in city centre (Pl. Vila de Madrid 1). Reasonable prices and good quality make them very interesting.

Outside city centre, the biggest shopping area is Avda. Diagonal (Metro L3 Les Corts) with another branch of El Corte Inglés and L’Illa, a massive building with lots of shops so chances are you will find something you like.

Main sales season in Barcelona is at the beginning of January.

Tip: Use Google Maps to get the exact location of the different streets. (e.g. to get the location of the Plaça Catalunya, type 'plaça catalunya, barcelona, barcelona').

Spanish and Language Classes

Are you new in the city and have some language difficulties? First of all you should be aware that Barcelona is a bilingual city with both Catalan and Spanish. Catalan is the local language and Catalan people are very proud of it so people will really appreciate if you make the effort to learn Catalan. Although everybody speaks Spanish.

Looking for Spanish or Catalan lessons? Barcelona has a wide offer of language schools. However, some can be a waste of time and money.
We are including some interesting ones:

Escuela Oficial de Idiomas Drassanes
Av. Drassanes s/n
Metro Drassanes L3
Website: http://www.eoibd.es/
Email: eoibdrassanes@eoibd.es
Tel. +34 93 3249330

This is probably one of the most interesting options because it is sponsord by the local government so the prices are very reasonable. It has a wide offer of courses (up to 15 languages can be studied). Located in city centre, it is also a great place to meet people.

Escuela Oficial de Idiomas Vall d´Hebron
Av. Jordá
Metro Vall d´Hebron L3
Website: http://www.eoibcnvh.org/
Email: eoi2bcn@pangea.org
Tel: +34 93 4186833

Another branch of the above school. Wide offer of courses and reasonable prices although it is not located in city centre.

Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona UAB
Sant Antonio Maria Claret 171
Metro Hospital San Pablo L5, Guinardó L4
Website: http://www.uab-idiomes.com/
Email: info.idiomes@uab.es
Tel: +34 93 4335060

Barcelona Spanish School
Rocafort 104
Metro Rocafort L1
Website: http://www.barcelonaspanish.com/
Email: info@barcelonaspanish.com
Tel: +34 93 4269822