Souvenirs from Barcelona

Barcelona is definitely a tourist city, and on every corner you will find shops, stalls and stands selling souvenirs and traditional products, ready to be bought and taken home. Obviously it would be impossible to provide an exhaustive map of all of the shops; however I will definitely be able to give you a list of traditional products and goods that can be purchased in Barcelona before you head home. My own very personalized categories are food/wine souvenirs, a souvenir to last forever and souvenirs you absolutely shouldn’t buy.

Food/wine souvenirs

According to Forbes Barcelona is one of the 5 top cities for food. So why not take home some Catalan specialties for your own friends and family?

1. Spanish Sausages:
‘Fuet’ is similar to salami. The ‘fuet’ from Vic, a town near to Barcelona, is particularly well-known. There is also ‘Chorizo’, the red-coloured sausage typical of Spain, ‘jamón dulce e serrano’, cooked or cured ham, which is called ‘pernil’ in Catalan and ‘sobrassada mallorquina’, a sausage-meat made from pork, paprika and salt.

2. Cheeses:
The ‘Queso de cabra’- goat’s cheese- is particularly well-reputed.

3. Catalan Sauces:
‘All-i-oli’, a sort of garlic-flavoured mayonnaise, ‘salsa brava’, a red-coloured spicy sauce that goes brilliantly with potatoes, ‘romesco’ sauce with almonds, tomatoes, garlic, vinegar and olive oil, and ‘samfaina’, a sauce made with aubergine and peppers.

4. Catalan confectionary:
‘Carquinyolis’, made with almonds, ‘panallets’, marzipan confectionary, ‘boniato’, “sweet, red potatoes” and pine-nuts. These are typical during the winter season.

5. Cava:
Spanish sparkling wine is from this region and it would be a shame not to take a bottle home with you. Both the white and rose versions are delicious.

A souvenir from Barcelona to last forever

1. A piece of Gaudi
From his house: there are mugs, plates, ashtrays, diaries, candles, posters and ornaments with his mosaic themes. Specifically, Gaudi’s salamander, which is located at the entrance to Parc Guell, is a souvenir that represents Barcelona well, but is not obvious due to the fact that not everybody knows about it.

2. A CD with Catalan music:
Every place you go, take some music from that place. Some advice? Try a CD by the duo Estopa, Antoni Font, Pastora, Gossos.

3. A reminder of the legendary Barça:
This team is an institution and if you are fans of football you couldn’t leave for home without a Barça mug, shirt, or baseball cap.

4. A Porrón:
A strange bottle, typical of Catalonia.

5. A hand-made souvenir from a young artist:
You can find curious, yet at the same time traditional souvenirs in the bookshops for the MACBA and CCCB museums and the art libraries that are within the immediate vicinity. A couple of examples would be the works of Núria López, the name of whose art is ‘la Virgen de los Broches’ (“the Virgin of pins”), or a jewel from her Bandada collection. These latter works use Spanish birds as themes, which are at risk of extinction.

6. The Catalan donkey:
There are t-shirts and mugs with the symbol of symbols from Barcelona.

7. A home-made souvenir from the Ramblas:
For example a clock made from a vinyl record, painted while you wait, a frame just made from a strip of iron and some pliers, a painting ‘painted’ with a spray-can or a fan with the image of one of Barcelona’s monuments.

8. ‘Cathedral of the Sea’ or ‘Shadow of the Wind’ by Ildefonso Falcones:
Novels set in the Barcelona of yesteryear for lovers of literature.

9. Classic choices, such as key rings, bags, brooches, a snow-globe with one of Barcelona’s monuments. It won’t be a particularly original souvenir, but for example if you collect snow-globes it would be a shame not to have one from the Catalan capital. The same goes for postcards.

10. A t-shirt from Barcelona’s Hard Rock Café:
Another none-too original souvenir, but a real must for lovers of the chain and for collectors. However, avoid bags with just Barcelona written on them- they’re so boring! Or a t-shirt with ‘I love Barcelona’- very tacky!

Souvenirs you absolutely shouldn’t buy

1. A sombrero:
There isn’t a Spanish version of this and even though Barcelona is situated between two rivers neither of them is the Rio Bravo! Sombreros are Mexican- not Spanish, let alone Catalan.

2. A flamenco outfit:
If you aren’t able to resist the temptation and you end up buying one, you should know that it’s Spanish and not Catalan.

3. A big no to bullfighting:
Don’t take souvenirs of this type back with you from Barcelona as it’s got nothing to do with Catalan culture. There’s good reason why the symbol of Catalonia is a donkey and not a bull.

                                                                                                from oh-barcelona.com