15 Barcelona Souvenirs That Are Practical & Unique

Souvenir shopping in Barcelona is all about finding affordable, locally sourced, and good quality products. You’ll want to bring back a few products that Barcelona is known for, like a traditional porrón, caganer, or Tìo.

To make sure you bring back the best souvenir from Barcelona, these are my tips for where to shop and what to look for while you’re visiting.

Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!

What To Buy in Barcelona Spain?

I’ve separated my list of Barcelona souvenirs into four categories:

• Fashion souvenirs from Barcelona
• Food Barcelona souvenirs
• Artsy souvenirs from Barcelona
• Catalan specific Barcelona souvenirs

P.S. Find out what makes the perfect souvenir from vacation with my tips!

The Best Fashion Souvenir From Barcelona

Barcelona is up there with London and Paris as a fashionable city, especially today with a lot of local designers. Here are some souvenir ideas for fashion related items, both traditional and modern Spanish!

1. Buy (or Make) Your Own Espadrilles In Barcelona

Locals have been wearing Espadrilles in Spain for centuries. Today you can most likely find Espadrilles outside of Spain, but there’s something about buying a new pair from where they originally came from.

The defining characteristic of the Espadrille is the esparto rope sole. The original style sells for as low as €10- €20 (depending on where you find them), and these are meant to be worn as beach shoes. They’re flat so they don’t offer much support, but it makes them great to pack!

If you don’t live next to the beach, there are nicer styles that you can buy that you can actually walk in. These will cost you more, starting closer to €70, but you’re investing in a good sole.

An even more unique souvenir from Barcelona is to make the Espadrilles yourself! Imagine, bringing home a pair that you made yourself!

Where to buy espadrilles in Barcelona: I bought espadrilles as my Barcelona souvenir at Handmade Barcelona in the Gothic Quarter (but they have a few locations around the city). I trusted Handmade that they’re ethically made in Spain. Plus, the staff is incredibly friendly, showing me all the traditional ways to tie my espadrilles! And if you don’t have space in your luggage to bring them home you can always order them online after you’ve chosen your style and fit at the store.

2. Local Spanish Fashion & Jewellery

In most other European cities, I wouldn’t dare walk into a boutique shop. They’re always so intimidating because no one else is inside and it’s usually way out of my price range for souvenirs. But this was not the case in Barcelona.

The local boutique shopping is for the people, and it’s all very reasonably priced too. Plus, everything is either made in Spain or you can even find things specifically made in Barcelona. There are some local chains that you can shop in, like D*lirio, which was one of my favourites. And by chain, I mean two stores and only in Barcelona.

The two most popular boutique areas in Barcelona are Gràcia and El Born (although I preferred Gràcia over El Born for clothing and jewellery items – they just seemed to have a bit more options at more reasonable prices).

3. FCB Merch (Barcelona Football/ Soccer Team)

Like most of Europe, Barcelona’s obsessed with football (for my North American friends, I’m talking about soccer). They have one of the biggest stadiums in the world, with the capacity of holding over 100 000 raging fans!

So, if you’re a sports fan, or know someone who is, then souvenirs to bring back from Barcelona is FCB (Football Club Barcelona) merch. You can find specific FCB stores to shop in, or you can find FCB merch at the Spanish department store, El Corte Ingles.

Read more: 15 Fascinating Barcelona Fun Facts You Didn’t Know

Food Related Souvenirs From Barcelona

Spain, and even Barcelona, are known for some unique food trends. I’ve included specific drinks and food to buy, to other perishable food (or drink) related souvenirs from Barcelona.

4. Lolea Sangria From Barcelona

Technically speaking, Sangria is from the South of Spain which means it’s not a traditional Catalan drink (Barcelona is in Catalonia). You can of course still find Sangria around Barcelona, but if you want a local option, look for a Lolea Sangria.

Casa Lolea is a Barcelona company with one restaurants in the city, but you can find their sangria at several restaurants throughout the city. You can buy a bottle to bring home at select stores around the city, or even go directly to the restaurant to buy a bottle.

In fact, we enjoyed a bottle at the restaurant and you’re allowed to take the bottle home with you as a nice souvenir from your night. I wanted to take the bottle home because a) it’s adorable, and b) it’s reusable! You can use it as a vase, or fill it up with water to use at home.

You don’t have to even buy it in the city, they also sell it in the duty-free so you don’t have to worry about it breaking in your luggage. Or look at your local liquor shop because nowadays, they’ve started to export Lolea to North America (the SAQ in Quebec sometimes has it in stock during the summer months!).

5. Buy A Traditional Catalan Porrón

You’ve probably never heard of a porrón before, which makes it a truly unique souvenir from Barcelona! A porrón is kind of like a wine decanter that you actually drink from.

Porróns were supposedly invented to share sangria at parties instead of giving everyone their separate glass (because there would be less to clean?). For some reason though I find this tale hard to believe…. I don’t think cleaning glassware was a big concern back in the day…

So although I’m not sure how traditional porróns are, they are a lot of fun to try. You are meant to pass it around the table, and pour the sangria directly from the porrón into your mouth. So if you want to share sangria the Catalan way back home, then you have to bring back your very own porrón. It’s fun to show friends and family how to use (and hopefully have them make a fool out of themselves!).

I’d recommend using white wine or even water until you’re confident in your porrón skills. Using a porrón takes some practice (and some might need more practice than others!). Let’s just say, I got water in my eye instead of my mouth the first time. P.S. I learned about, and tried using, a porrón for the first time on a tapas and wine tasting tour of Barcelona (the one I signed up for isn’t offered anymore, but this one from Viator is very similar).

Where to buy a porrón as a souvenir: I actually had some trouble finding a porrón to bring back because you won’t find them in most tourist shops. They had them at El Corte Ingles (the department store in Spain) but without a cork, which isn’t a huge deal breaker.In the end, I found one at a random store in El Born, close to the Picasso Museum. 

6. Best Barcelona Souvenirs For Gifts: Catalan Liqueurs

If sangria and porróns aren’t for you, Catalonia also has a lot of local liqueurs to try and bring back. A Catalonian liqueur is similar to limoncello from Italy, but there are 10 unique flavours you can choose from. 

The most famous Catalonian liquor is ratafia, a walnut herb liqueur. But my favourite is crema Catalana liqueur, it’s like their famous crema Catalana but in liquid form (with alcohol). 

In case you didn’t know, creme Catalana is Catalonia’s own version of Creme Brulée (p.s. no one really knows which one came first, was it Creme Brulee or crema Catalana?). 

7. Tea Blends Souvenirs To Bring From Barcelona

Spain isn’t exactly known for tea but to fuel my tea obsession, I always like to pick up a local blend to try. Plus it’s always an easy souvenir to find and bring back. 

The Tea Shop in Barcelona is the perfect place to do that. They have 5 different Gràcia blends to choose from: Black, Green, White, Red, and Roobois. You can either buy a package of your favourite one, or buy a taster set with all of them included.

You might be interested in: Top 9 Barcelona Cafés You Don’t Want To Miss

8. Handmade Grated Plate For Pan Con Tomate

If you know anything about local Catalan cuisine, it’s pa amb tomàquet or pan con tomate. This is a local dish that’s essentially Catalonia’s version of bruschetta. Fun fact: it literally translates to tomato bread!

It’s also very simple to make; rub tomato and garlic on a toasted piece of bread, pour some olive oil on top, and sprinkle some salt. Voilà, pan con tomate!

You don’t need any fancy appliance to make this, but if you wanted, you could buy a handmade painted grated plate in Barcelona. Instead of rubbing the tomato and garlic directly on the bread, you make your spread in this specific plate first. 

I like this souvenir from Barcelona because you can use it to make pan con tomate at home, but it isn’t just limited to that. You can use it any time you need minced garlic or even ginger. Now it becomes a multi-use, local Barcelona souvenir! Plus, if you find a design you love, then you can even leave it on display!

9. Tapas Recipe Book (Buy Some Barcelona Souvenirs Online)

Now that you already know how to make the most important Catalan tapas, pan con tomate, you have to learn how to make others. If you’re looking for what to buy in Barcelona, why not bring back a beautiful tapas recipe book. This way you can bring home the taste of delicious Spanish home cooking with you!

Books can sometimes to a tad heavy to bring back with you. So you can most likely find these Barcelona souvenirs online, order them to have them waiting on your doorstep when you get back!

I bought Tapas and other Spanish Plates to Share (shop in Canada) online and had it waiting for me when I got back. I also loved The Book of Tapas (in Canada), but that one is just WAY to big to bring back!

10. Must Buy In Barcelona: Amatller Chocolate

If you look past Gaudi’s Casa Batllò, you might notice the house next door. This is Casa Amatller, home to the famous chocolatier, Antoni Amatller. They’ve been making world famous chocolate for 300 years!

Amatller Chocolate might not compare to Belgian or even Swiss chocolate, but it’s still delicious chocolate nonetheless. So you can’t leave Barcelona without trying some of his chocolate, and bringing some home for others to try!

I’m also swayed to Amatller chocolate for the beautiful tin designs their chocolate is sold in – I just love them! The tin package also gives a second life to this Barcelona souvenir. First you get to enjoy the chocolates, and then you get to repurpose the tin! 

Artsy Souvenirs To Buy in Barcelona

I always love bringing back local artwork from vacation, and Barcelona is no exception. Art and Barcelona seem to go hand in hand, from the old to the new artists, it’s all equally as breathtaking.

11. Upcoming Spanish Artists

There are no shortage of art shops in Barcelona selling the work of new and upcoming local artists. You’ll want to head to El Born for this, there are tons of new artists just waiting to be discovered!

Barcelona artsy souvenir budget friendly tip: There’s no denying that local art can be on the pricier side. So for a free Barcelona souvenir art hack, keep your eyes peeled for local business cards every time you walk into a store. I noticed quite a few shops had postcard sized business cards, which they used local artists to design. So they were really works of art over a marketing tactic. I took a few home and framed them!

12. Picasso Prints

An interesting fact that you may not have known is that Picasso lived and studied art in Barcelona since he was 6 years old. So a good piece of artwork to bring back is some Picasso. You can go to the Picasso museum and buy your favourite print. 

13. Gaudí Barcelona Souvenirs To Take Home

Barcelona lives and breathes architect Antoni Gaudí (don’t believe me? See everything he designed in the city). It would be a shame to not bring back at least one Gaudí Barcelona souvenir. And, lucky for you there’s no shortage of Gaudí Barcelona souvenirs to choose from either. 

You can find art, paperweights, magnets, even jewellery! I opted for the old coffee table book This is Gaudí because I loved how it showcased not only his work but also gives you his full biography.

P.S. Make your own Gaudí themed souvenir from Barcelona: sign up to create your own trencadis-style mosaic!

Catalan Souvenirs For A Fun Christmas Tradition

There are two Catalan christmas souvenirs that are so unique you’ll want to bring them back! Even though they are used during the holiday season, you can buy these traditional Christmas Catalan souvenirs regardless of the holidays you celebrate and time of year.

But when I visited Barcelona around Christmas time and every market was filled with these!

14. Caganers

Caganers are pretty hard to miss when you walk by them because they’re figurines of someone pooping. Yep, you read that right. Caganers have actually been placed in Catalan nativity scenes for centuries to make sure everyone is represented!

Although today, this tradition has been slightly blown out of proportion to have anyone you can possibly think of pooping. You can find politicians, celebrities, even movie and cartoon characters! It’s a fun gag souvenir from Barcelona to bring back for someone, or even for yourself. My Airbnb had them on display in the bathroom, and I’ll admit, it was quite funny to see every day.

15. Tìo

Tìo is another century old Catalonian holiday tradition, that is also about poop. It might not surprise you at this point, but the translation of his name is: the pooping log. Tio is in fact, a piece of wood, with wooden legs, and a face drawn on the front.

The tradition is that every day leading up to Christmas the kids feed him candy. Then on Christmas day, they wack him until he breaks, revealing all the presents! You can find Tìos of all different sizes, so you can bring a small one back home.

You can most likely find these all year round in different tourist shops as well.

Never forget your favourite travel memory: keep track of your travels every day with my digital and printable travel journal. Use it on the go on your phone or tablet, or print it out!

Where To Shop For Barcelona Souvenirs?

There are two neighbourhoods that stand out to me for buying Barcelona souvenirs: Gràcia and El Born. Both neighbourhoods are filled with local and affordable boutique stores that you can only find in Spain or even only Barcelona.

Barcelona also hosts some local markets over the weekend which is a good spot to pick up some of those one of a kind Barcelona souvenirs as well. One to look out for is the Palo Alto Market, see if it’s on when you’re visiting.

Guide to Shopping in Gràcia

Gràcia is a bit further out of the way from the Barcelona city centre (all the way at the end of Passeig de Gràcia) but it’s worth making your way there. Because it’s a bit further, you’re leaving all the other tourists behind! You’ll definitely find that truly one of a kind souvenir from Barcelona here.

You don’t just have to go to Gràcia for souvenir shopping either, there are delicious restaurants to try as well, markets to enjoy, and so much more. I actually stayed in Gràcia when we visited Barcelona and would highly recommend it.

Guide to Shopping in El Born

If Gràcia is a bit too far for souvenir shopping in Barcelona, El born is another great option. El born is a lot closer, it’s basically an extension of the Gothic Quarter on the other side of Via Laietana. There are a lot more art stores in El Born but I noticed that the clothing stores were also on the pricier side compared to those in Gràcia.

Stores that stand out to me are d*Lilrio for beautiful Spanish jewellery and fashion items (both in El born and Gràcia), VAV in El Born for ceramic tile art, and OMG BCN in El Born for everything made in Barcelona.

Need A Place To Stay In Barcelona?

I stayed at an Airbnb in Gràcia for a more home away experience. I highly recommend booking a stay in Gràcia to experience more of the local Barcelona life. Book a room at Casa Gràcia – See room rates & availability.

If you’re looking to stay closer to the city centre, a great neighbourhood is El Born. Stay in Hotel del Mar. See room rates & availability.

Or why not stay like royalty at Hotel Royal Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona. This is the nicest street in Barcelona! See room rates & availability.

For more accommodation options on Booking.com.

More Barcelona Guides

• 6 Hacks to Saving Money in the Barcelona
• How To Spend A Day At Montjuïc
• Where To Stay In Barcelona: A Guide To The Gràcia Neighbourhood

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