In Barcelona there are goods from all countries, and it can be difficult to choose a unique gift from all this variety. So we thought of writing about Barcelona souvenirs, and gifts you can bring for yourself, how to plan a successful shopping trip, what souvenirs will be a good reminder of your visit to this Catalan city.
1. Gourmet Souvenirs
What to bring from Barcelona as a gift for gourmet lovers? Usually, jamon and other meat delicacies, olive oil, as well as delicious cheeses, which are produced in the neighboring town of Vic.
a. Olive oil
Both for yourself and as a gift, you must buy only Extra Virgin Olive oil, since only this has the taste and aroma characteristic of olives, as well as nutritional benefits. Cheap refined oil resembles sunflower oil, so such a gift is unlikely to please anyone.
Catalonia produces olive oil in Empordà, Les Garrigues, Basque Ebre-Montsia, Terra Alta. This product has the status of DOP (Denominacion de Origen Protegida), which means “Highest Quality.” These oils are very rarely sent for export, they can only be purchased in Catalonia, so the gift will be really unique and also useful.
The brand La Espanola is very popular among tourists.
Prices for a can of 0.5 liter olive oil start at 4 € and go up to 30 €. It is best to buy this product in specialized stores or in large supermarkets.
By the way, not only traditional olive oil and canned olives can be brought from Barcelona. Marmalade and olive confiture, chocolate with olives will be wonderful and very tasty souvenirs.
b. Jamon and other deli meats
Speaking about what to bring from Barcelona from food, one cannot forget jamon, a dry-cured pork ham. Jamon can easily withstand a long road, so bringing it home is not a problem.
There are several types of jamon, depending on the breed of pigs, but the best is iberico or pata negra. It is prepared from pigs of the Iberica breed, who are fed acorns.
When buying, you need to pay attention to the dates. The meat must have a stamp indicating the year and week of manufacture, and the minimum period from the date of manufacture to the date of sale should be about 2 years.
The weight of the back pork leg is about 14 kg, the jamon prepared from it will weigh 7-8 kg, of which meat will be only 4-5 kg, the rest is bone.
Prices for jamon start from 15 € per 1 kg, and a product with the DOP quality mark costs about 80 € per 1 kg. A whole ham weighing 8 kg will cost 150-200 €. Generally, tourists prefer to buy slices in vacuum packaging.
In Barcelona, jamon can be bought at butchers, supermarkets, and markets (including La Boqueria). Here we can only advise one thing: you need avoid shop meant for tourists, and go to retail outlets where local residents make purchases.
Important! Look out for jamon in its original packaging.
Another delicacy that can be brought from Barcelona as an original gift is Fuet sausage. This is the name of a dry-cured sausage, coated with a white coating and having a special smell due to the anise added to it.
c. Cheeses
Cheeses in Spain are among the three best in the world, along with cheeses in France and Holland. The Catalan cheese makers have their own traditions, allowing them to produce special varieties of this dairy product.
Many tourists in their reviews say that you must bring Queso Tupi cheese from Barcelona. This gift is especially appreciated by lovers of alcohol, because during maturation Tupi is poured with aniseed liquor. The result is a soft, sharp cheese with a delicate aroma of alcohol and green olives.
Queso Tupi ripens in clay pots for 1-3 months before it is sold. The price is €5.5 – €9 per 200 g. It is customary to eat such cheese with butter, olives, tomatoes along with unsweetened wine.
Betara cheese made from goat milk will also be a good souvenir. Betara has a gray color, in consistency it looks more like a cream, but it is recommended with nuts.
What other cheeses can be brought from Barcelona?
- Alt Urgell i la Cerdanya with a mild delicate taste
- Garrotxa from goat milk, ripening under a layer of ash
- solid Serrat from sheep’s milk
- Mató de Montserrat as a dessert
- white Costa Negra, covered with a black crust
- Tou del Tillers, very similar to the French Brie
It is better to buy cheese in specialized stores that have proper facilities for its ripening and storage. You may also find tasting rooms there. One of the most famous outlets in Barcelona is called “La Seu”.
Important! Cheese can only be brought if it is in its original packaging.
d. Spanish wines
A good gift that you can bring from Spain is wine. In Catalonia, in the Priorat region, a large assortment produces high-quality light dry white wines. Prices for a bottle of 0.75 liters are in the range of 2-8 €, more expensive brands in gift wrapping cost from 15 €.
The most popular is cava sparkling wine, which competes with French champagne and does not cause drowsiness at all in hot climates. The most famous of all cava brands are Codorniu and Freixenet. Cava can be bought at any supermarket in Barcelona, the average price for a bottle is 3-5 €.
Sangria – wine with aromatic fruity notes – can also be a worthy souvenir. Estimated price – 10 € per bottle.
Important! Alcohol, the strength of which exceeds 24%, is allowed to be exported from Spain in a volume of not more than 5 liters.
2. Shoes, clothes and accessories
The best time to buy clothes and shoes in the Catalan capital is seasonal sales. But tourists write in their reviews that it is possible to bring practical, attractive and affordable items from Barcelona not only during sales season.
Pull & Bear, Zara, Mango, Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius, Camper, Pura Lopez, Pikolinos, Zinda, El Dantes, El Naturalista, Manolo Blahnik – all these popular clothing and footwear brands come from Spain. And there is nothing surprising in the fact that here the prices for their products are lower, and the assortment is richer than in other countries.
In addition, in Barcelona there are local brands that better convey the whole flavor of the vibrant Catalan capital.
High-quality Desigual clothing, featuring exotic and colorful designs, is as fiery as Barcelona itself. At present, the brand’s headquarters is located in Barcelona, and here its products can be purchased cheaper than in other cities of the country.
Custo Barcelona is another well-known fashion brand in Barcelona. The company also produces bags, wallets, scarves. Custo also has its own perfume line.
Munich is a respected brand among Europeans specializing in the production of sneakers and urban sports shoes for adults and children. An adult pair of Munich shoes costs upwards 120 € and children’s shoes start from 60 €. Bags and backpacks, which Munich also has, can be a good gift.
If you want to bring truly Catalan shoes as a gift, you need to look at the espadrilles. Shoes that have a textile upper and a sole of woven jute ropes, which are now worn around the world, were invented several centuries ago in Catalonia. “Espardeyes” – this is how the word “espadrilles” sounds in the Catalan version.
There is already a tradition to bring leather goods from Spain: shoes, clothes, belts, wallets, purses, bags, wineskins. Attractive products that are made in Catalan factories are characterized by strength and durability. Accessories prices start at 20 €.
3. Merchandise of FC Barcelona
The Catalan capital is home to the famous Barcelona football club. Therefore, you don’t need to think twice about what to bring from Barcelona as a souvenir for sports lovers. The best gift will be merchandise of this legendary football team.
FC Botiga is the official mega-store of FC Barcelona branded goods. It is located at Camp Nou stadium, at its ninth gate. In this store you can find everything that is associated with the Barcelona team or has its icons: sets of uniforms for the game, boots, t-shirts, key chains, badges, watches, notebooks, soft toys.
Smaller stores selling official club goods are located in central Barcelona:
- in the Maremagnum shopping center – Port Vell, at the end of La Rambla
- Jaume I – in the center of the Gothic Quarter, near the El Born area
- Universitat – at Plaza Universitat, next to Ramblas
Estimated prices for football paraphernalia: from 3 € for a key-chain to 99 € for a T-shirt.
4. Small Souvenirs
There are a lot of souvenirs, as well as souvenir shops, in Barcelona. You will find them at every step, but it is more profitable and convenient to shop at Gothic Quarter and on La Rambla. There are several more interesting places where you can buy really interesting gifts and souvenirs:
- Wawas (El Born district, Carders street, next to the Picasso Museum)
- Barceloning (Mallorca 332, not far from Sagrada Familia)
- Fantastik (Carrer de Joaquín Costa, 62)
- OMG Barcelona (Plaça de la Llana, 7)
To bring a truly exclusive gift, it makes sense to go to Poble Espanyol. In the Spanish village there are craft workshops that create a variety of original souvenirs. There you can look at the work of the artisans, and then buy the finished product.
So, what small souvenirs from Barcelona can we get as gifts?
For a long time, the famous architect Antonio Gaudi lived and worked in Barcelona. He is the architect of the famous Sagrada Familia church, as well as a massive ceramic lizard that welcomes guests at the entrance of Park Guell. The most diverse mosaic figures and figurines are made of multi-colored ceramics in the style of trencadis (Guadi used this technique most often when creating his works). An absolute hit among such figures is a small copy of the lizard from Park Guell.
By the way, this lizard is considered one of the main symbols of Barcelona, so as an interesting souvenir you can bring both a figurine and any thing with its image. It can be t-shirts, caps, shorts, mugs, watches, magnets, lighters. A soft toy or a bracelet with a lizard will be a good gift for children.
For girls who like Spanish dances, you can bring castanets as a gift. Castanets that look like two shells, when tapped, emit a sonorous sound that sets the rhythm during flamenco. The price of such a souvenir is about 10 €.
In addition to Spanish wine from Barcelona, you can bring a porron wine jug. This vessel has a rather original shape: it resembles a hybrid between teapot for brewing and a laboratory vessel. The Catalans use Porron not only for storing wine, but they drink wine directly from this vessel.
A typical gift for ladies that is customary to bring from Spain is a fan that can be used not only for its intended purpose, but also as a decor for your home. Prices start at 5 €.
Conclusion
Remember that you can bring from Barcelona any souvenirs except items that have historical or cultural value. They can not be exported from Spain under the law of this country. Antiques or jewelry can fit into the definition of such items, so you need to check with the store, and obtain clearance certificates. With such certificates the customs officers let them pass across the border without any questions.
