Barcelona in 5 shops: vintage clothes, local food and more

07.10.2024 - 15:29 / lonelyplanet.com

Oct 6, 2024 • 4 min read

In our 5 Shops series, we’ll point you in the direction of our favorite independent shops across some of the world's best cities. From food markets to bookshops, vintage and homegrown design, we’ve found a diverse and exciting mix of local retailers where you can pick up one-of-a-kind pieces.

In Catalonia’s lively capital, a rich artisanal heritage that stretches back centuries meets fresh, forward-thinking design trends, along with some of Spain’s most wonderful markets. Here are five of our favorite independent shops in Barcelona, each telling a snippet of the city’s ever-evolving story.

Barcelona has a thriving world of vintage design, with El Raval its main hub. For Ibiza-born Holala! Plaza, garments are collected from flea markets, textile factories and shops all over the world, then shown off in this wonderland of vintage design overlooking Plaça de Castella. Inside, there’s a fun vibe, with posters all over the walls and decorative surfboards dotted around.

I always make a beeline for the rails of preloved denim jackets, often including Levi’s numbers. At any given moment, the constantly refreshed stock might also include Burberry trench coats, Hawaiian shirts, sequin-covered party dresses, Converse sneakers and floppy beach hats. El Raval hosts several popular secondhand markets, too, including El Flea.

The 2018 reopening of the 1882 Modernista market in Sant Antoni kicked off a wave of local creativity and put this once-sleepy neighborhood on the map, with new restaurants, cafes and shops. It took nine years to sensitively restore the building designed by Catalan architect Antoni Rovira i Trias, as archaeological remains kept emerging; you can still see 17th-century defensive walls and part of the Roman-era Via Augusta.

Most people are here for the fabulously fresh local produce – Catalan cheeses, just-cut pernil (jamón in Spanish), fish from the Vilanova dock – and perhaps a stop at one of the low-key cafe-restaurants, such as Casa Blanca. It will be hard to resist the stands selling home-cooked meals to go (I often pick up a chunk of tortilla for lunch). Don’t miss the Mercat Dominical, a 1936-founded secondhand-book market that sets up shop outside every Sunday.

A soothingly converted perfume shop in the thick of multicultural El Raval is the setting for this carefully displayed selection of products from small, local brands, where all products are vegan, cruelty-free and sustainability-focused. Australian owner Amy Cocker (who has been a Barcelona local for years) named Grey Street after where her grandparents lived in Canberra.

I always end up taking home one of the beautiful home pieces. The Annick Galimont whale mugs are handmade in the town of La Bisbal d’Empordà,