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19/06/2009From Barcelona: Shopping in Spain

Trying to buy something as simple as bread and milk during siesta time used to frustrate and bother blogger Jeremy Holland but not anymore.

Coming from the US, one of the most difficult adjustments was going from the land of 24-hour convenience to a country where stores pretty much open when they feel like it, or as they say in Spanish, cuando les da la gana.

The whole concept of Spanish service is a bit of an oxymoron, because unlike in America where everything is catered to the consumer and you can buy anything at anytime, here it's basically - if you need it that bad, you'll find the time to get it.

And, if you have a problem with that: tough. It is what it is.

I remember getting really frustrated by this attitude my first year here. I couldn't believe everything closed at the one time I was free during the week (lunch), or that come two o'clock on a Saturday, most businesses were shut for the weekend.  Not to mention not being unable to go to the supermarket on a Sunday for some milk and bread, when the only establishments open were the bars and churches. How on earth did they expect a person to buy anything and keep their economy going? I thought as only an American could.

Photo: Francesco Crippa
Barcelona, frutas -  Photo © Francesco Crippa

But over time I realised: whereas in the States I went to massive stores like Staples for stationary, Home Depot for hardware and Cosco for my shopping, where the employees worked in shifts to provide maximum service; in Spain it was the small papeleria two doors down for pens and notebooks, the ferretería a block away for a hammer or screwdriver and the el mercado down the street for my groceries.

Most of them were run by a couple with their kids pitching in, which made two in the afternoon time for a family lunch and the weekends a necessary break from their jobs. In other words: they were people just like me and not employees of a multinational company whose duty was to serve their customers at the expense of their free time.

Barcelona, pescaderia - Photo © BocaDorada
Barcelona, pescaderia - Photo © BocaDorada

Besides, the whole concept of shopping here was different to what I had previously known. Back in Los Angeles, I'd hop in the car, drive a few kilometres, fight to find a place to park, and wander through places that were more warehouses than shops with ceiling high shelves of pre-packed, super-sized products.



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2 reactions to this article

Jay posted: 24-06-2009 | 12:01 PM

You make Spain sound so oldie-worldie, but in reality that has changed a lot in the past years. Sure there is not 24/7 shopping, but there is the large supermarkets that do open early and stay open all day until late at night. Most larger towns now have at least one of these hyper-markets if not 2 or 4.If you have a car you can do all your weekly shopping in the hyper-markets just as you would in America (except not at 3am)
It is nice to think Spain is this country that has not progressed for the past 100 years, but reality is that it has.

republican posted: 13-07-2009 | 12:35 PM

I agree with Jay...they don´t have Wal-Mart here...yet. but they do have Carrefour ,Alcampo..etc...which has all those spanish stores that were mentioned in the blog

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