Souvenirs from Barcelona

Canvas shoes with a sole of braided jute rope (espardenyes in Catalan), worn in Catalonia for centuries, including for sardana dancing. Handmade pairs have a stitched, tightly braided sole; cheap copies have a glued rubber-and-jute sole that comes apart.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: La Manual Alpargatera (Carrer d'Avinyó 7, Gothic Quarter), an espadrille maker on the same spot since the 1940s.

A small figure of a crouching man relieving himself, hidden in Catalan nativity scenes for luck and a good harvest. Besides the traditional farmer in a red barretina cap, there are caganers of footballers, politicians and celebrities. Hand-painted clay figures last longer than moulded plastic ones.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: The Fira de Santa Llúcia Christmas market in front of the cathedral (late November to 23 December) has a whole caganer section; outside that season, souvenir shops in the Gothic Quarter sell them.

Cured ham from Iberian pigs, sold sliced and vacuum-packed for travel. The label colour tells the grade: black means 100% Iberian and acorn-fed (bellota). Check the rules at home first: since April 2025 travellers may not bring EU pork into Great Britain, and the US and Australia ban meat in luggage too.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: The ham stalls of La Boqueria and Santa Caterina markets, or a ham shop chain such as Enrique Tomás, which vacuum-packs for travel.

Almond and honey nougat, the Christmas sweet of Catalonia and Spain: hard (Alicante style), soft (Jijona style) or Catalan flavours such as crema catalana. Look for a high almond share on the label; cheap bars use more sugar and other nuts. Shops sell it all year.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: Torrons Vicens (Carrer del Petritxol 15), a turrón maker from Agramunt in Lleida that dates back to 1775.

Catalan sparkling wine made like champagne, mostly in the Penedès around Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, an hour from the city. 'Brut nature' is the driest; Corpinnat and Clàssic Penedès are local sparkling wines outside the Cava label. Bottles go in your checked luggage, or buy them after airport security.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: Vila Viniteca (Carrer dels Agullers 7, El Born), a wine merchant with a large Catalan range; supermarkets also stock the big cava houses.

Fortified wine with herbs, drunk in Barcelona as 'fer el vermut', a glass with olives and crisps before Sunday lunch. Catalonia has its own makers, such as Perucchi (Badalona, since 1876) and Yzaguirre (Reus, the town with a vermouth museum). Red (negre) is the classic; pack it like wine.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: Wine shops such as Vila Viniteca (Carrer dels Agullers 7) and the bigger supermarkets.

The blue and claret (blaugrana) stripes of the club whose motto is 'more than a club'. Shirts sold by street vendors on La Rambla and in many souvenir shops are copies: an official one carries the club's and the kit maker's labels and is sold in the club's own stores.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: The official Barça Stores: Canaletes (La Rambla 124), Passeig de Gràcia, opposite the Sagrada Família, at Spotify Camp Nou and at the airport.

Trencadís is the broken-tile mosaic Gaudí and Jujol used on Park Güell's dragon and benches. Souvenirs range from small lizards and magnets to trays and boxes. Real trencadís is made of irregular ceramic shards set by hand; printed resin copies look flat and identical.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: The shops at Park Güell and the Sagrada Família, and Art Escudellers (Carrer dels Escudellers 23), a large shop for Spanish ceramics.

The grey pavement tile with a four-petal flower, the 'Flor de Barcelona', has covered the city's pavements since the early 1900s and became a symbol of the city. The hexagonal Gaudí panot lines Passeig de Gràcia. You find it as cement replicas, coasters, magnets, bags and jewellery.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: B de Barcelona (Avinguda de Gaudí 43, near the Sagrada Família), a shop for city icons that sells handmade replicas of the flower tile.

A glass wine jug with a long spout, passed around the table in Catalonia so everyone can drink without touching it with their lips. The trick is to start close, then raise it slowly. Clear glass is the everyday kind; check the spout tapers to a small hole, or it pours too fast.

• 🛍️ Where to buy it: Ceramics and glassware shops in the old town such as Art Escudellers (Carrer dels Escudellers 23), and household stalls at the markets.