Shopping! in Spain

Information about where and how to shop for groceries, expat goods and other important items for expats in Spain.

Shopping in Spain is great: lots of options. The high streets are plentiful, artisans are everywhere, little market treasures abound. Here we’ve collected helpful information on:

• Grocery shopping and grocery store chains in Spain
• Foreign foods and online shopping for expatriates
• Spanish goods for sending home
• Book shopping

Groceries

Dia is undoubtedly the least expensive grocery store in Spain. I know someone who does imports/exports for them and she says the company is run like a machine. They may not be friendly, efficient, or offer the best selection, but you find the prices can be half of their competition’s.

Know that, like much of Europe, the Spanish buy much of their groceries at family run specialty corner stores. You’ll find these for fruits/vegetables, seafood, pork, baked goods, and more. Prices are mid-range, and service, if you frequent them often, is personalised, helping you feel a bit more at home sometimes.

Foreign Food

El Corte Ingles’ supermarket is expensive, but always has a very good selection of food, particularly foreign foods. You’ll also find the occasional Italian food store (one of my favourites).

If you long for something from home:

UK: Try British Mail Order, Spainsburys, Britbuys and Expat Shopping Coop: online grocers offering British foods for expats.
USA: Try America To You or American Goodies

You’ll often find foreign foods at the small alimentaciónes. They’ll have a lot of asian and middle eastern foods especially. Great for quick beer/wine runs and last minute dinner additions with a friendly fellow-immigrant customer service touch! (warning: prices vary greatly)

Spanish Goods

Euro stores, like dollar stores in North America, offer great deals on all the little home articles you’ll need. Often run by other immigrants/expats from Asia. Nice people, great prices, lower quality.

If, on the other hand, you’d like to send Spanish products overseas, then take a look at the websites listed on the right under related products.

Books

Amazon’s UK site’s Airmail option (5€ per shipment) takes 3-5 days to ship, while Amazon’s USA site’s Standard Shipping option (4,50€ per shipment) takes about 6 weeks to ship. If you’re looking for a book published in the USA, though, that might add another 2 weeks to the Amazon UK shipping time.

Last updated 21 09 2006

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