Shopping in Spain
Spaniards have a passion for food so naturally shopping for the ingredients would be a favorite past time for them as well. The advantage of Spain is also in the variety of shops and markets where it is quite inexpensive to buy fresh fruits, vegetables, wine, fish and quality meat products.
Supermarkets in Europe are like museums of current culture and shopping in Spain is a brilliant way to interact with the locals. There are multiple supermarkets in Spain but the popular ones are Mercadona, Lidl, SuperCor, Aldi, Carrefour and Eroski Supermarkets.
These markets have huge branches and smaller chains across the country and can be easily accessible in major cities.
Lidl is a very cheap alternative for students when it comes to shopping but for good value for money, Mercadona is an appropriate option.
For starters, many items in all the stores and markets in Spain are labeled in Spanish so learning the appropriate Spanish words for your favorite items might come in handy.
Food, dairy products, meat, and fish are fairly priced and seemingly the same across the country. Food is truly cheap in Spain and they are of really good quality. Supermarket brands are even cheaper and of good quality as well.
Many local markets usually called mercadillos, rastros or mercados are spread in almost all the cities in Spain, they carry fresh produce sold directly by the farmers.
These markets are quite popular for cost-effective shopping and as a means to learn Spanish culture even more. People can easily find many rare food products and spices in these markets that they would not readily find in a supermarket.
Shopping for other items such as clothes, and shoes is also very easy and well accessible. Several malls and outlets are scattered around big cities carrying a range of clothing items that are not only unique and fashionable they are also of good quality.
Spain has a lot of homegrown brands that sell fashion and clothing. These local brands may have originated from Spain but some of them have grown to become world chains with stores across the globe. Some noteworthy brands from Spain include Mango, Desigual, Prada, Cortefiel, Blanco and many more.
Sales and discounts are important aspects of the shopping culture in Spain. Commonly referred to as ‘Rebajas’ in Spanish, sales are seasonal in the country and usually happen at the end of both winter and summer seasons.
