Shopping
Spain:
Look for ceramics, tilework, marquetry ware, Toledo swords, and embroidery. Shops normally open around 9am, close around 2pm for a siesta, then reopen from 4:30-8pm.
Seville
Seville is home to many beautiful artifacts; some of the more popularly known are plates and Spanish tiles. There are stores that custom design plates and tiles near the cathedral, especially in Calle Sierpes, but across the river in Triana are other worthwhile pottery stores. Depending on the time of year, but especially leading up to Christmas, there are a number of artesanal fairs throughout the city.
Seville offers a wide variety of retail clothing, although generally at high prices. The main shopping district is home to all the big international and Spanish clothing lines (such as Zara - at least 4 separate stores!) The winding streets and alleyways of the Santa Cruz area (around the Cathedral) do a roaring trade in Spanish- and Andaludian-themed T-shirts for all and inexpensive flamenco dresses for little girls.
Hidden gem:
Toro de Fuego: An above-average and tasteful T-shirt boutique, offering a large number of variations on the popular "bull of fire" theme... Printing is high quality, the fabric is good quality and proprietor María Gutiérrez is friendly and helpful. T-shirts average €16 for all sizes.
Madrid
Major credit cards and foreign bank cards are accepted in most stores, but be aware that it is common practice to be asked for photo-ID ("D.N.I."). If asked for your DNI present your passport, residency permit or foreign ID card. Basically anything with your photo and name on it will be accepted by most shopkeepers. The signatures on credit cards are usually not checked.
Sol-Salamanca district: The most convenient area for tourists is around Calle de Preciados, between Sol and Gran Vía, home to the El Corte Inglés department store, high-street names like Zara, Gran Vía 32, H&M, Sephora, Pimkie. The smartest shopping district is Salamanca northeast of the center, around Calle Serrano. Top designer names like Chanel, Versace, Hermès, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani, Dolce e Gabbana and Hugo Boss, including the fluid fabrics and elegant cuts of Spanish designer Adolfo Domínguez, are located on Calle Ortega y Gasset. Head for Calle Serrano for Purificación García, Roberto Verino, Ermenegildo Zegna, Loewe, Carolina Herrera, Manolo Blanik, Cartier, and Yves Saint Laurent. Prada is on Goya strret, and on Jorge Juan st we can find more luxury shops.
El Rastro: Madrid's largest flea market, only open on Sunday mornings, featuring rows upon rows of private vendors selling a variety of homemade goods, and a wealth of live entertainment. It is very important to note that the Rastro is notorious for having an abundance of pickpockets, so watch your handbag closely and do not bring along valuables. The closest Metro station is La Latina.
Cuesta de Moyano: A quaint outdoor book market, near Museo del Prado.
Chueca and Fuencarral Street Area: This part of the city used to be an abandoned and marginal area. But lately it has quickly turned into the most avant-garde and modern part of Madrid. Thanks to the gay community, old shops were taken over and turned into the coolest places of Madrid. Today, it is an example of modernity, a paradise for entertainment where everything is possible. The streets are filled with restaurants, alternative cafés and shops, a good example is the Market of Fuencarral (Mercado de Fuencarral, in Spanish) a novel shopping center concept.
Fuencarral Market (Mercado de Fuencarral): The market is one of the most daring and dynamic spaces in the city. Besides shops selling clothes, shoes, accessories and decorative items, that will delight the most daring and fashion conscious shoppers, this modern market also offers avant-garde cultural activities on a continuous basis. Frequent disc jockey sessions are put on in the center’s café, and also exhibitions in the art gallery and cinema projections and theater pieces in the old cinema room. The Cinema and activities are open until midnight. It is located in the Fuencarral street, number 45, between Tribunal and Gran Via. Its 3 floors crowded of modern shops are aimed specially for young people.
Hidden gem:
El Corte Inglés It's a "Harrod's Like" store, multiple buildings, several floors, you can find anything in a wide range and stocks. It sells almost everything, from gastronomy to pneumatics. Several locations in Madrid.
Barcelona
Although not quite in the same league as Paris or Milan, Barcelona is certainly among Europe's cities of style. It is a natural magnet for the fashion-conscious and there is no shortage of design outlets for even the most tireless consumer. Several markets animate squares around the centre of town.
Most of the mainstream stores can be found on a shopping 'axis' that looks something like the hands of a clock set at a quarter to five. From the waterfront it leads up La Rambla through Placa de Catalunya and on up Passeig de Gracia. At Avinguda Diagonal you turn left. From here as far as Placa de la Reina Maria Cristina (especially the final stretch from Placa de Francesc Macia) the Diagonal is jammed with places where you can empty your bank account. The T1 Tombbus service has been laid on for the ardent shopper and eventually a tram may run the length of Avinguda Diagonal, too.
The best shopping areas in central Barcelona are Passeig de Gracia and the streets to its southwest, including the Bulevard Rosa arcade just north of Carrer d'Arago, and Barri Gotic streets such as Carrer de la Portaferrissa, Carrer de la Boqueria, Carrer del Call, Carrer de la Llibreteria and Carrer de Ferran, and around Placa de Sant Josep Oriol.
Department-store bargain-hunters should note that the winter sales officially start on or around 10 January and their summer equivalents on or around 5 July. The big department stores (such as El Corte Ingles) and shopping complexes (such as El Triangle) tend to open from 9am or 10am through to 9pm or 10pm at night, Monday to Saturday. Smaller shops often close for a few hours at lunchtime (around 2pm to 4pm).
