Barcelona is clearly a favourite shopping destination. The string of stores is endless, and design plays an important role in them. The good thing about shops in Barcelona is that you can find anything, from second-hand bargains in Els Encants to sophisticated luxury goods in the Passeig de Gràcia. Here, then, is a rundown of different areas in the city to save you from perishing in your endeavour to hunt down your much coveted Christmas presents.

Diagonal

The Diagonal has become a large, attractive, comfortable and glamorous promenade abuzz with commercial, tourist, gastronomic and urban activity. On a stroll along the avenue you can delight in the best brands and interior design stores, designer furniture and premium accessories. It boasts the leading shopping malls, iconic buildings and personalised “made in Barcelona” attention for shoppers. The avenue is lined with shops of all kinds, specialising in beauty care, accessories, home furnishings, jewellery, fashion, children’s goods and four large department stores – El Corte Inglés Diagonal, El Corte Inglés Plaça de Francesc Macià, L’Illa Diagonal and Pedralbes Centre.

Eixample

On a walk through the streets of this district you can spot myriad examples of Modernist buildings, architectural gems in their own right. Here, the shopping is noteworthy for its quality, glamour, specialisation and variety of products and establishments, featuring both world-famous designer stores and centuries-old shops redolent with history and tradition. Craftwork, beauty care, accessories, gourmet delicatessen, home furnishings, jewellery, fashion, children’s goods and shoe shops are the forte of this shopping area.

Casco Antiguo (Inner City)

Prominent here are shops featuring antiques, craftwork, beauty care, accessories, delicatessen, home furnishings, jewellery, fashion, children’s goods, shoe stores and the five leading department stores – El Corte Inglés, on the Avinguda Portal de l’Àngel, La Rambla and Plaça Catalunya and, in the harbour area, El Triangle and Maremagnum. This is the area with the most history in the city. It starts at the Plaça Catalunya, in the centre, proceeds along La Rambla, Barcelona’s most popular and colourful promenade, and into the districts of El Raval and the Gothic Quarter, where traditional and modern commercial establishments rub shoulders with cultural centres, not to mention the shopping centres and department stores. 

Born

With its more than two thousand years of history, El Born quarter is an area of contrasts, with history and culture coexisting side by side with trendy shops, culinary offerings, fashion and art. Prominent are the establishments offering antiques, craftwork, beauty care, accessories, delicatessen, jewellery and fashion.

Shopping Centres

Apart from shops, Barcelona boasts a large number of shopping centres and department stores offering goods of all kinds. They are ideal spots to shop when time is scarce, and they also provide leisure and catering facilities for spending time, either alone or with the family. In addition to those mentioned in the previous sections, the other must-visit shopping centres in the city are Diagonal Mar Shopping, La Maquinista and Las Arenas, the latter housed in a former bullring.

Retail Hubs

The city’s retail hubs stretch across all districts, where modern establishments are interspersed with long-standing traditional stores. A visit to these stores provides an enjoyment of Mediterranean-style shopping, which is essentially a family venture, with personalised attention based on a friendly demeanour and the professional service that comes through long tradition. All kinds of goods are available through these channels.

Additionally, this year, as part of the Barcelona Christmas Shopping campaign set up by Turisme de Barcelona, you can win one of the three trips for two people to come and shop in Barcelona over the Christmas season. If you visit this website, you can gain access to discounts in over 50 stores in the city and look up all the festive activities on the shopping agenda.

Don’t miss out on the chance to enjoy one of the greatest pleasures in your favourite city – check out our flights here.

Turisme de Barcelona

Often we believe that to discover great landscapes in the world we must go to remote places, far from our borders, beyond Europe… We believe the more exotic the country is, the easier it will be to find that stunning landscapes, full of life, that we only see in the movies or in our dreams. But nothing could be further from truth because close by, in Cabo de Gata, we can find one of the most important natural ecosystems in Spain, 37k terrestrial hectares and 12k sea hectares of protected area.

We talk about unspoilt white sand beaches, cliffs, caves, coves, desert and mountain range, all in the same spot. The UNESCO declared it a biosphere reserve, it occupies 63 kilometres of coastline and the seabed is listed among the richest in the Mediterranean. This is a fantastic place with endless activities to enjoy nature in Almeria. Here is a list of the most remarkable places in Cabo de Gata.

BEACHES AND COVES

At Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park we can find spectacular cliffs, amazing nature beaches, urban beaches and beautiful coves. The most popular are listed bellow:

Genoveses beach: Located at Campillo Genovés, it is part of the most beautiful bay in the park, situated in a valley which has not being built on, has a fine extension of 1 km of dunes of sand. This is a virgin beach with stunning panoramic views.

Mónsul beach: With a volcanic origin, the Mónsul beach is surrounded by ancient lava flows eroded by the wind and the water during the years until formed the stunning landscape we can see nowadays. This is, no doubt, the most famous beach in the area, as it was featured in several movies such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Playazo beach: surrounded by the mountains in one side and the San Ramón castle by the other, we can find one of the most beautiful beaches in the park and, at the same time, one of the most accessible and comfortable. Furthermore, not far from here and following a short path we can reach the cove Bergantín.

Enmedio cove: One of the most wild and unspoiled coves in the area, it’s surrounded by fossilized dunes and has great views to the Agua Amarga town, in the other side of the bay, and right behind, the Mesa Roldán hill with its lighthouse and castle. As a case in point, New York Times featured the beauty of this cove in a recent article.

Los Muertos beach: The beach with bluer and clearer water in the area. From here you can also access El Peñón and Las Salinicas coves. This is a beach that is difficult to access to, it is also a quite dangerous one, because of hard east winds, and that’s where the name comes from.

TOWNS AND PLACES

El Cabo de Gata is one of the most arid areas in Spain and on of the driest in Europe, but it has a long-standing tradition of fishing, with old charming little towns. The average annual temperature is around 18 and 20 degrees. This is a place to be explored in order to understand the natural wealth in this country.

La Isleta del Moro: A fishing village full of charm, years ago was the cradle of Arab and Berber pirates. This place is perfect to enjoy Mediterranean seafood.

San José: It is considered the capital town for the nature park; San José is also the biggest town inside the park, perfectly located as beaches, coves and nature surround it.

Los Escullos: The writer Pérez-Reverte used this stunning location for his book “The Nautical Chart”. The San Felipe castle, the beaches and fossilized sand dunes surrounding this place should not be missed.

Níjar: This town was able to preserve the tradition of whitewashed houses, keeping the vestiges of Arab heritage. This place is perfect to purchase crafts.

Las Sirenas reef: One of the most photographed and iconic sightseeing places in the park because, in addition to its great beauty, the lighthouse at Cabo de Gata is the exact point where the southeastern part of the peninsula ends.

Image from Emilio del Prado

Makes you want to go, right? Do it! Check out our prices here!

Christmas in Tenerife is characterised by the mild climate and the lively, festive street atmosphere in all corners of the island. Cities like La Laguna and Santa Cruz are decked out in colourful poinsettias and Christmas decorations, endowing the streets with a special flamboyance. A host of cultural activities are scheduled for the season, including concerts, exhibitions, theatre plays, traditional celebrations, crib displays, craft fairs, etc. Among the standout events is the Christmas concert on 25 December at Puerto de Santa Cruz, performed by the Symphonic Orchestra of Tenerife. As is to be expected, the festive season also features a host of activities for the little ones, notably the Parque Infantil de Tenerife (Tenerife Children’s Park). To round off the experience, make a point of trying the traditional confectionery on sale at this time of year. Here are some of the features that make this season one of the year’s most engaging in Tenerife.

Activities for Children

Youngsters have a range of activities to choose from at Christmas time, but the one everyone waits for with baited breath is the PIT (Parque Infantil y Juvenil de Tenerife) (Tenerife Children’s and Juvenile Park), a genuine amusement park which is hosted in The Tenerife International Centre for Trade Fairs and Congresses from mid-December until the beginning of January.

The PIT first opened in 1989 and has staged innovative and extremely entertaining activities ever since. It is usually divided into forty-five entertainment and game areas where a team of 200 people chaperone visitors every day. Dozens of activities are hosted in this park, all of them designed for children or youngsters, although families will also find places where they can have a great time.

Another of our proposals is located in Puerto de la Cruz, specifically in the church of Peña de Francia, where the Children’s and Juvenile Choral Assembly is organised by the Reyes Bartlet Choir around this time each year.

And, lastly, in the south of Tenerife, in one of Spain’s most cutting-edge buildings, the Magma Arte & Congresos on the Costa Adeje, you can have a great time on the skating rink – 720 square metres of a 5-star ice rink where you feel as if you were opposite the Rockefeller Center in New York, the Natural History Museum of London or the Hôtel de Ville in Paris. A unique attraction for all the family which you should make a point of visiting. Take note!

Customs and Traditions

Needless to say, Christmas in Tenerife is charged with customs and tradition, involving theatre plays, masses, parades, etc. Many of the events that are held here have been celebrated year after year for centuries.

The misas de la luz (light masses) are one of the most popular religious events in the Canary Islands. They date from 1768, according to the last will and testament of the nobleman, Alonso de Medina. Running from 16 to 25 December, they are held at various points in the archipelago. Hundreds of people in the congregation gather just before six in the morning, when mass is due to start, and sing Christmas carols at the church entrances. One of the most exciting moments occurs on 23 December, when the retinue files through the towns and villages and takes part in communal singing and dancing.

Another long-standing tradition on the island is Christmas crib-making. A profusion of highly original cribs are displayed in numerous public and private buildings around Tenerife. Among the most famous of them is the one in the headquarters of CajaCanarias, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, or the one hosted at El Cabildo, also in the island’s capital, in addition to those exhibited in town halls and other public buildings.

Christmas Confectionery

The islands boast a huge variety of sweets and at Christmas the vast array of confectionery focuses on more specialised offerings. Homemade Christmas candies can be savoured in numerous corners of the archipelago and the most popular ingredients are millo (corn), almonds, honey and fruit.

One of the most typical Christmas candies on the island are the so-called truchas, although they can be found all year around. They consist of patties filled with sweet potato, angel’s hair pumpkin and, sometimes, custard. Their preparation is straightforward and they are usually made in all homes.

Get going and enjoy a Christmas getaway to Tenerife – book your Vueling here.

Text and photos by Turismo Tenerife

It’s not just an incentive to encourage pilgrims on their way. Gastronomy in Santiago de Compostela has, indeed, recognized worldwide. From the products available at Mercado de Abastos, freshly arrived from the fishing harbours or the fields nearby, which are later available in baroque stills at counters and seafood restaurants.

Tourists go to Santiago looking for great quality on seafood, abundant and well-priced ¿The best? The seafood captured at Galician Rías by the North Sea, of course. Species like crab, lobster, shrimp, razor clams, oysters, crabs, crabs, barnacles, clams, oysters, prawns, barnacles and scallops, better known as "Concha de Santiago", which is also the symbol for the pilgrims and Santiago Way. Seafood is usually conserved alive until is prepared, simply boiled or grilled. However, you should know typically a Galician won’t put any sauce on it, as it masks the taste and qualities.

Then, there is the octopus. Any popular celebration to be considered must have octopus as the star course. Inside, it’s usually cooked "á feira", while in the coastline is usually prepared until is "recio", to be topped with coarse salt, pepper and a splash of oil. In Santiago you will find restaurants specialized in octopus at the streets Conxo, Vista Alegre o Concheiros, where you can also try recipes like octopus pie or octopus with rice.

There are other main products around here: Galician beef – juicy, with an intense and delicious flavour – or the cheeses from Arzúa-Ulloa or cheese roll, usually served with quinces, or the famous Santiago cake, made of almonds. In Santiago, you’ll usually get served a tapa as a courtesy. You can distinguish the tapa from an actual course as the ration is more abundant, sophisticated and not free. Near Obradoiro Square, at the streets of Rúa do Franco and Raíña, you can try all kind of tapas with high quality wines, like albariños and ribeiros.

The best option to discover the richness and gastronomic tradition of Santiago is to book one of the gastronomic tours, a guided visit to the most traditional stores and markets like Mercado de Abastos, to discover all the tips and secrets of their gastronomic culture and to try some of their products.

Another option if to go to some of the gastronomic events, like Santiago(é)Tapas, a tapas contest organized in November which allows you to discover the best and most innovative Galician gastronomy as you discover the city, too.

So you feel like visiting Santiago de Compostela, do you? Book your flights here!