Bookstores, those modern temples. Whether they are small neighborhood hermitages where you can go to get books like someone taking shelter from the cold, or large bibliophile cathedrals where you can find anything you can imagine. Barcelona is a city of bookstores (there are more than 300!) and that is why finding the one we like is not so much an effort of research, but a work of careful selection to choose the one that offers the books that best suit our reading palate.
We know that, like those who have a favorite bar and a favorite color, everyone has their own bookstore. Some people prefer a small neighborhood bookstore, others will go to the big chains, others will look for accompany the book with a cup of coffee and others will go in search of second-hand books. But in this city of books there are pages for everyone, so we invite you to dive into this list and today, more than ever, to read these lines until you find the ticket that will take you to your favorite bookshelf in Barcelona.
On the road, recovering the bookstore spirit
On the road bookstore, in the Born is much more than a place to buy books. Undoubtedly one of our favorite bookstores in the city. Stop by, meet Angel, its owner, and soak up literature and life.
On the road has a vocation as a meeting point with literature as a vehicle and organizes spectacular book clubs. Although most of the clubs are held in the bookstore itself, the last ones, on The Old Man and the Sea and Walden were held on a sailboat and in a remote cabin in a forest two hours from Barcelona, respectively.
📍 Carrer de Verdaguer i Callís, 14
Lata Peinada, the South American branch in Raval
Fundamental stop in the Raval. Lata Peinada has become a reference in the city and has already organized the first edition of the Latin American Literature Festival of Barcelona, to which its shelves are focused. There you can find classics of literature from the other side of the pond, new releases, old out-of-print editions, publishers hard to find in Spain, as well as literary workshops, book presentations and other activities.
📍 Carrer de la Verge, 10
Fahrenheit 451
The adventure of these two booksellers, Azra Ibrahimovic and Sergio Lledó, began in Sitges where, with a horse cart converted into a traveling bookstore, they provided literature to a city without bookstores. And from that adventure they jumped to a store at number 5, Calle Sal, in Barceloneta..
This new temple of culture, which takes its name from Ray Bradbury’s masterpiece, was born with the desire to be a space for independent publishers who find it so difficult to gain a foothold in the windows of the big bookstores. A space that is not only a book store but a cultural trench, where to hold workshops and talk about anything with books as an excuse.
📍 Carrer de la Sal, 5
Calders
It is a “Llibreria especialitzada en llibres” (as they define themselves in their Twitter description) because it used to be an old button factory specialized in buttons. With special emphasis, attention or dedication to books in Catalan and a rustic bar with a stage, piano and tables, a visit to Calders is always a good plan. Ah, dogs are also welcome here.
📍 Passatge de Pere Calders, 9
Altaïr Bookstore
It would be very easy to start talking about the Altaïr bookstore by saying that literature is a journey. So we’re going to do it, because there’s no need to complicate it. Literature is a journey and Altaïr is the leading bookstore specializing in travel in Catalonia.
Two floors, 60,000 titles and an eponymous cultural magazine make the Altaïr bookstore a must-see for anyone with even the slightest intention of specializing in travel culture.
📍 Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 616
Norma Comics
The literary man does not live by the letter alone… and Norma Comics is the confirmation of this phrase. Founded in 1983, in its more than 700m² you will find manga, European comics, American comics and all kinds of merchandising. Norma is the perfect store both for those who are experienced in this discipline and for those who want to learn about it.
📍 Passeig de Sant Joan, 9
Documenta
It was on the verge of closing (you know, the book crisis, as if books had ever known any other condition, and the damn rent) and was saved by raising 80,000 euros thanks to crowdfunding. With a change of location included, they have been battling for almost 45 years.
The one that was a reference of the Gothic Quarter and the Ramblas has been comfortably installed for years in the Eixample, in a larger venue where all kinds of events and presentations are made.
📍 Pau Claris, 144
Nollegiu
Nollegiu, more than just a bookstore (which it also is), is a project that organizes contests, conferences, meetings, lectures and all kinds of events oriented to literary people. Poets, novelists and essayists have turned this bookstore into a sort of Café Gijón. Nollegiu works so well, in part, because it is nestled in one of the neighborhoods with the most vibrant cultural activity: Poblenou.
In fact, it works so well that the bookstore expanded with a new location in the Clot that did so well that, when it had to close to move to another location nearby,organized a human chain that was joined by dozens of neighbors who passed the books hand in hand to their new location.
📍 Carrer Pons i Subirà, 3
Crisi
Located in the neighborhood of Sant Antoni crisi defines itself as a “space for critical thinking”. In addition to its magnificent collection of books, specializing in essays, feminism and poetry, it offers a wide range of workshops, courses and reading clubs that are updated on a recurring basis and that you can -and should- follow attentively at his Instagram profile.
📍 Carrer de Floridablanca, 90
Taifa
Opened some twenty years ago, Taifa has been an instant classic since the first book occupied one of its shelves. Founded by the editor, critic and poet José Batlló, Taifa is divided into two clearly differentiated parts between second hand books and first eye books. One of the best bookstores in Barcelona.
📍 Carrer de Verdi, 12
Suspicious animal
If you love poetry you must visit this bookstore-publisher. Animal sospechoso specializes in poetry and has a large (and wonderful) catalog of independent authors and publishers that you’ll be hard-pressed to find elsewhere. Whether your thing is to discover new voices and proposals, or if you’re more of a classic, this site is made for you.
📍 Carrer de Ventalló, 9
Aida Books&More
Aida Books & More is one of the best for two reasons: there is enough quality in the catalog (I have even bought two Ishiguro books -Anagrama editions- for 3€ each) and it works as an NGO. The booksellers are volunteers and the proceeds go to fight poverty.
📍 Carrer d’Astúries, 78.
Laie
Laie could be the jewel in the crown. A couple of floors, an infinite variety of books and a restaurant area worthy of exceeding 4 stars on Tripadvisor. Quiet, calm or serene are three of the adjectives that accompany any noun you want to put before it: quiet bookstore, calm coffee shop or serene atmosphere.
📍 Carrer de Pau Claris, 85.
La Central del Raval
There is little to say at this point about one of the largest and most mythical bookstores in the city. Its infinite shelves, its three locations and its spectacular agenda (training included) are part of its charm.
And as if to add to the advantages, a few years ago, the Raval headquarters opened a bar that is definitely one of the best terraces in Barcelona and that, together with the bar that already existed at the Mallorca location, turns the place into a bookseller’s paradise.
📍 Various locations
La Memòria
La Memòria was about to close last year. Unable to cope with the drop in sales, it was clear to those in charge of the bookstore that the only solution was to close the shop, but the news reached the ears of two neighbors in the neighborhood, in Gràcia who decided to take a 50 percent stake in the bookstore. Thanks to them, this little jewel specialized in narrative and history of the 20th and 21st century is still open.
📍 Plaça de la Vila de Gràcia, 19
Finestres
One of the latest additions to the list of bookstores in the city. To enter Finestres is to enter a sort of palace where the book is its most revered treasure. Far from the sobriety of other previous bookstores, here the lamps and sofas, its high shelves (perhaps too high) and even some carpet give the place an air of strange luxury, somewhat bizarre but warm. Reading a book on one of its sofas is a pleasure.
The Finestres landing has been so overwhelming that right in front of their main store they have another bookstore, dedicated to art books and comics, which is as worthwhile as the previous one.
📍 Carrer de la Diputació, 249
Byron
Like the previous one, Byron also exudes a certain air of pomposity. Its huge, deep premises house a cafeteria at the end of the building and a Zone to enjoy quiet reading. A fireplace and a few armchairs invite shoppers to devour their books before heading out the door.
📍 Carrer Casanova, 32
Sendak Bookstore
Children’s and young adult literature (YLL) is for all ages, and Sendak Bookstore wants to prove it. There you will find a wide variety of books of different genres and themes, because the LIJ is diverse and plural, there is something for all tastes and colors, and they are not only the books you read at school.
📍 C/ Còrsega, 461
La Llama Store
The world’s first bookstore specializing in smoke r alone can be a good idea. La Llama is almost more of a movement than a bookstore, a space where you can find not only books and funny objects, but it has become the real axis around which the most avant-garde trends of humor in the city revolve.
In its back room, a space for events, presentations or podcasts, for example, the first edition of the Ruina Show was forged. And if you go and don’t find any interesting events you can always buy a mini plastic hand to fit on your finger, which is also quite fun.
📍 C/ Villarroel, 34
COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS
It goes without saying that we love drawings as much as letters, and that’s why we also leave you some of the main comic and graphic novel bookstores in Barcelona.
Norma Comics
The literary man does not live by the letter alone… and Norma Comics is the confirmation of this phrase. Founded in 1983, in its more than 700m² you will find manga, European comics, American comics and all kinds of merchandising. Norma is the perfect store for both those who are experienced in this discipline and for those who want to learn about it.
📍 Passeig de Sant Joan, 9
ECC Comics
A new macro-bookstore dedicated only to comics has appeared like a superhero in the city, ready to save any fan (or not) of the genre from any shortage of books of the genre they may suffer.
ECC , a comic giant that publishes, among others, the DC universe, has opened in Gracia the largest comic book store in the city, a 400 m2 beast where any craving for comics and graphic novels will be perfectly satisfied.
📍Carrer de Bonavista, 30
SECOND-HAND BOOKS
Although here we will only tell you about El Siglo bookstore, the largest second-hand bookstore in the country, in other occasions we have pointed out some of our favorite second-hand bookstores in the city to find all the old books you need.
El Siglo
Although in Sant Cugat del Vallès, El Siglo deserved a special mention. This second-hand bookstore has a collection of more than 150,000 books, magazines and documents. It is located in the Mercantic, where they also hold poetry and film series and concerts, among other activities. Surely you will find more than one jewel among its 800 square meters.
📍 Carrer Ermita, 1 (Sant Cugat del Vallès)