Shopping
Non-EU visitors to Spain have a little extra
incentive to bring souvenirs home: tax free shopping. So long as
the goods bought are items that could be taken back to you country
with you and the bill exceeds EUR90.15, you will make a saving of
16 percent on purchases. In Barcelona, the city is a shopper's
playground. A three mile (5km) shopping line tracks from Las
Ramblas, through Placa de Catalunya along Passeig de Gràcia and up
Avenue Diagonal. Most of it is pedestrianised and pleasant to
navigate on foot. The Tomb bus is a service specifically tailored
for shoppers in the city, covering all the major retail centres, it
departs every seven minutes from Catalonia Square and makes 28
stops up until Placa Pius XII. Barcelona is a very fashion
conscious city and several big names such as Giorgio Armani,
Burberry and Bally are represented in exclusive stores here while
there are also local Spanish mega-fashion stores like Zara, Mango
and Adolfo Dominguez. Travellers on a budget might want to take
advantage of seasonal sales. Winter sales officially start around
10 January and summer sales around 5 July, savings are generally
high, between 50 to 70 percent, during these times. Shops open at
about 9am and close between 8pm and 9pm daily. Some shops close for
a lunchtime siesta between 2pm and 4pm.
