With so many shops in Barcelona, it’s hard to find the right place for your holiday read, if you happen to have forgotten a book. Rest assured that if you have any free time left from the amazing sights Barcelona has to offer, here’s the best places to hunt out a special treat.
Barcelona is great for shopping. The Catalan Capital has one of the biggest "shopping areas" marked on your Barcelona map, and designated by the Barcelona City Council, and there used to be a "Shopping Line" which was a free bus taking you 5 kilometres and covering some of the 35,000 shops in the city. Many of the biggest Spanish brands such as Custo, Zara, Desigual have prime spots along Las Ramblas, Passeig de Gracia and other select locations sitting side by side with the likes of high street brands such as H & M, and more exclusive boutiques - the likes of Armani, Fendi, Gucci, Calvin Klein, etc.
However, one often overlooked aspect of the city's shopping is books. Barcelona is a great place to buy books, and not just Spanish or Catalan books - there are some great English sources to find, too.
Books are also big business in Barcelona. The Patron Saint of Catalonia is Saint George, and on the 23rd April - Saint George's Day and a national holiday in Catalonia - it is tradition for boys to present a rose to the girls, representing the blood of the slain dragon. And what do the boys receive in return? A book - the 23rd April is also the anniversary of Spain's most famous Author, Miguel Cervantes, whose works include the fantastic “Don Quixote de La Mancha”. The city’s streets fill up with mobile bookstores, and the famous Las Ramblas is a mass of coloured roses. So where to go if you want to find some good books?
A great place to start would be FNAC, at the top of Las Ramblas, inside “El Triangle” at Plaça Catalunya – the city’s main square. The French chain is along the lines of a HMV, or a Virgin Megastore, and stocks DVDs, CDs’ and a fairly impressive bookstore, including a great travel section and a fair amount of English books, too.
Just a short walk away and another great stop for books is “Portal del Angel” street – real fans of Barcelona literature could even take a shortcut through Carrer Santa Ana, which was the home of leading character “Daniel” in Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s bestseller “The Shadow of the Wind”. Here you can find the Spanish Chain Store “El Corte Inglés” whose book collection also has an impressive English collection of reference and non-fiction. Continue down towards the inner winding walkways of the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona and “Happy Books” speaks for itself and has a few shops within the city itself.
Away from the old town into Poble Sec neighbourhood also houses a real gem – Elephant, a second hand English bookstore where you can come and exchange old novels and pick up some great new ones, too.
Moving on to some of the rest of the bookstores in Barcelona (not necessarily English, or with a good English collection), then BCN Books also has a good collection of books over 3 stores in downtown Barcelona, and “Casa del Libro” (the Book house, or house of books) also dates as far back as 1923. Finally, if it’s travel books you’re looking for, then look no further than Altair on Gran Via, number 616. This extremely central bookstore has everything you can think of with regards to world travel, anthropology, geography and is a great place to compare.
David Brydon has been living in Barcelona for 9 years and writes about
Apartment for rent Barcelona and regularly contributes to this great
Barcelona Guide.
