Monday 15 November 2010

Where to buy the best Xmas presents in Barcelona

With the festive season rapidly approaching, many people are getting their Christmas shopping and holidays sorted. If you happen to live or are going to Barcelona in the near future, and think it is the perfect opportunity to get your Christmas shopping done, then you could not have found a more perfect Barcelona Xmas shoppingplace than one of Europe's premier shopping cities.

Barcelona is famed for its markets and while dozens of them are held in the city each week, one of the best to visit for Christmas presents is the Mercadillo de la Plaça de Sant Josep. Packed with art, sculptures and other pieces of local culture, it is the ideal place to find something different to buy your loved ones. Other popular markets include Mercat Del Encants (which is known as the city's largest flea market) and the Sant Antoni Market (a massive food market with everything you could need).

Barcelona is also famed for its winding streets full of little stores and boutiques, so you don't need to go to the city's main shopping malls to find a bargain. A popular area to get designer brands is the famous Paseig de Gracia, which has many boutiques specialising in leather products. There are also several decent stores down Valencia Street.

If you are after fashion products from Armani and Gucci, then you will have to pay a high price, but many smaller stores specialise in similar products, even if they don't have the brand name on. If you want to do your shopping in a mall, then the large El Corte Ingls stores is extremely popular.