Barcelona Bead shops

I meant to post this the other evening, but time seems to be running away from me at the moment! I've been asked a few times about where the beads shops are in Barcelona, so I thought that the sensible thing to do would be to list them on my blog - so here they are! I dare say that there are more shops than I've listed here, but it'll be a start on your beady tour of Barcelona anyway!

The best place to start is Barri Gotic, an area between Las Ramblas and the cathedral. There are several bead shops on Carrer del Call, which is just off Las Ramblas. Some are wholesale so take a business card with you in case they ask. Some of them are very small but have an amazing amount of stock, including some size stones that I haven’t seen in this country.

Casa Torres is a tiny shop in Barri Gotic on Carrer del Pi just off the Placa at the Cathedral. They apparently operate a ticketing system, just like the deli counter in the supermarket. They have a website at http://www.casatorres.com/ but it’s not finished yet. I haven’t been to this one – yet!

There’s bead shop called Rossello on Carrer de L'Hospital. If you are at Liceau Metro station , facing up toward Placa de Catalunya then Carrer de L'Hospital is on your left. You can also get to the shop if you walk right through the St Josep market (the amazing food market off Las Ramblas!) right to the back and then turn left. It doesn’t do any semi-precious, but has a very good range of plated findings, glass beads and seed beads.

Lastly, Marudama is on Carrer Verdi near Parc Guell. Another one that I haven’t been to yet!

By the way, if you see the sign 'vente al mayor' it means 'wholesale only'. That's not a problem if you by beads by the string as I do. I take business cards with me to show shop owners if they ask, but I've never had a problem. Do remember that the Spanish have different business hours than we do in the UK. I've found that the best time to find as many open bead shops as possible is early evening. I've also found it best to pay in cash, as some of the wholesale places will charge you extra (up to 25% extra) if you pay using a non-Spanish credit card as apparently the transaction is counted as a foreign export and subject to more taxes.

Have fun if you visit Barcelona, but please remember that I take no responsibilty for the state of your finances if you do visit the bead shops!