The Rough Guide to Barcelona 8 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

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del Portal de l’Angel 19–21, Barri Gòtic T933
063 800, M Catalunya; plus uptown branches at
Avgda. Diagonal 471, 545 & 617, Les Corts,
M María Cristina; W
The city’s biggest department store – visit
the flagship Pl. de Catalunya branch for
nine floors of clothes, accessories,
cosmetics, household goods, toys and top-
floor café; while for music, books,
computers and sports gear, head for the
Portal de l’Angel branch.
Diagonal Mar Avgda. Diagonal 3, Diagonal Mar
T 902 530 300, W ;
M Maresme Forum or T4 tram. The city’s
newest major mall (the largest in Catalunya)
anchors the Diagonal Mar zone, and
features the usual high-street suspects
(El Corte Inglés, H&M, Zara, Mango,
Sephora and FNAC) plus designer clothes
and accessories, cafés, restaurants and
a cinema.
L’Illa Avgda. Diagonal 545–559, Les Corts T934
440 000, W MMaría Cristina.
The landmark uptown shopping mall is
stuffed full of designer fashion (including the
local Custo), plus Camper (shoes), FNAC
(music and books), Sfera (cosmetics),
Decathlon (sports), El Corte Inglés (a depart-
ment store), Caprabo (a supermarket) and
much more.
El Mercadillo c/Portaferrissa 17, Barri Gòtic
T 933 018 913; M Liceu. Double-decker
complex of shops selling skate-, club- and
beachwear and shoes – look out for the
camel marking the entrance. There’s a bar
upstairs with a nice patio garden.
El Triangle Pl. de Catalunya 4, Dreta de l’Eixample
T 933 180 108; M Catalunya. Shopping centre
at the top of the Ramblas, dominated by the
flagship FNAC store, which specializes in
books (good English-language selection),
music CDs and computer software. Also has
a Habitat, Sephora for cosmetics, various
clothes shops, plus a café on the ground
floor next to the extensive newspaper and
magazine section.
Design, decorative art and household
goods
Ganivetería Roca Pl. del Pi 3, Barri Gòtic T933
021 241; M Liceu. Handsome old shop,
dating from 1911, selling a big range of
knives, cutlery, corkscrews and other
household goods – including a fine array of
gentlemen’s shaving gear.
Germanes Garcia c/Banys Nous 15, Barri Gòtic
T 933 186 646; M Liceu. Enormous
warehouse-showroom devoted to the art of
basket-, raffia- and wickerware – cradles to
tables, plantholders to wardrobes.
Gotham c/Cervantes 7, Barri Gòtic T 934 124
647, W ; M Jaume 1. The
place to come for retro (1930s to 1970s)
furniture, lighting, homeware and accesso-
ries, plus original designs. Closed Sat in
Aug.
Indio c/del Carme 24, El Raval T933 175 442;
M Catalunya. The most traditional place in
town to buy linen, pillows, blankets, sheets
and tablecloths – the modernista facade,
long cutting counters, wood panels and
marble floor survive from its nineteenth-
century glory days.
Vinçon Pg. de Gràcia 96, Eixample T932 156
050, W ; M Passeig de Gràcia.
The grandaddy of household style,
pioneered by Fernando Amat – known as
the Spanish Terence Conran. It’s a fantastic
building, never mind what’s on sale, with
various separate street entrances and
separate sections for bedroom (Tinc Çon;
c/Rosselló 246) and kitchen (Kitchen Çon;
c/Pau Claris 179) stuff, plus temporary art
and design exhibitions in La Sala Vinçon.
Vitra Pl. Comercial 5, La Ribera T 932 687 219,
W ; M Jaume I. Home and
workplace furniture specialist with stunning
chairs by the likes of Frank O. Gehry,
Philippe Starck, Charles and Ray Eames,
and Ron Arad.
Food and drink
There’s a full list of city markets at W www
The ones
Tomb Bus
The Tomb Bus shopping line service
connects Pl. de Catalunya with the
Diagonal (Pl. Pius XII), an easy way to
reach the uptown L’Illa and El Corte
Inglès shopping centres. There are
over 20 stops on the circular route,
which passes many of the city’s other
big-name stores and boutiques.
Departures are every 7 minutes or so
(Mon–Fri 7am–9.38pm, Sat 9.10am–
9.20pm); tickets (available on the bus)
are €1.65 one way, €6.25 for one
day’s unlimited travel.
SHOPPING
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Food and drink