These are the Most Beautiful Bookstores in Barcelona

Today is the Day of Bookstores in Spain, a date to celebrate the habit of reading and promote bookstores as cultural spots. This year, the event will undoubtedly be marked by health circumstances, hygiene measures and bookstores willing to say thanks to the support received in recent months. We also want to be grateful, we want to express our gratitude to bookstores, for the important role they play in society, as lovely local shops with brilliant community initiatives like the creation of reading clubs, courses and cultural events. We are in a festive mood today (it’s Friday), calling #cityjobbers living and working in Barcelona to join the celebration! These are our favourite bookstores, where getting a book is a whole experience, including second hand shops with unbeatable prices and books in foreign languages or vintage editions.

Find your memorable bookshops in Barcelona

The Catalan capital is famous for the beach, Gaudí and tapas but it has plenty of beautiful bookstores as well. Barcelona has a unique offer of more than 50 bookstores. Living and working in Barcelona, you can also enjoy an important network of public libraries (with very generous loan services) that usually host free-cultural activities that these days are going online. Some of them are even located in beautiful buildings with private gardens and coffee to go. Don’t miss the Arxiu Històric de la Ciutat de Barcelona! It’s placed at The House of l’Ardiaca, a historic building that was built in the 12th century, from a part of the old Roman wall of Barcelona. At the end of the 15th century, it was rebuilt in a Gothic style. Visit the courtyard. Our secret: pay attention to the famous modernist mailbox, a design of Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The impressive reform of Casa de l’Ardiaca was carried out between 1991 and 1998. Yes, If you like architecture you will enjoy working in Barcelona. Go and have a look at our job offers in your native language!

Back to books, you will also find them at almost every museum’s gift shop in Barcelona. Go for the fabulous ones of La Pedrera, Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau and MACBA. Yes, they do have books in English and French. Well, you can always get the best of your work and travel Barcelona experience and learn the local language. You will find wonderful artsy books in Catalan! 

In fact, if you are a frenchy living in Barcelona, we are in search of French-native speakers to provide remote Sales Support. So, this can be your perfect job offer: French-speaking Sales Representative wanted! Are you the proactive hunter that we are looking for? #cityjobber, we are sure that you are not afraid of speaking with potential business clients in your native language from Barcelona contact center. Instead, if you have a passion for technology and you like helping others with their technical issues, we have a chance for you to play for a global brand. #wearehiring Technical Solutions Consultants with French in Barcelona! Apply for this  exciting position with a great work environment and career opportunities in your beloved Barcelona. Stay tuned to Barcelona cultural life to get it’s real personality. Here are 5 bookstores for some offline leisure time.  

5 bookstores to feed your inspiration

1. Head down Carrer de les Ramelleres to reach La Central, in front of the pretty Plaça de Vicenç Martorell. It’s located in a historic building that used to be a maternity hospital in The Raval, with an ancient chapel included. The feel is monastic, with vaulted ceilings and wooden floors. It was designed by Miguel Sal. First of all, you’re drawn in by the architecture. They refurbished a 17th century building with a modern interior and filled it with all kinds of books, with an awesome amount of humanities titles.   

2. Altaïr Llibreria is a heaven of travel books and magazines. Cosy and plenty of quiet corners perfect for browsing. Take your time and you will spend an entire afternoon here. If you are fed up with virtual traveling, go for some maps. There’s a whole section of them, as well as travel literature from around the world. The staff is helpful and friendly. There’s a great selection of Anglophone alternative guides to Barcelona like walking tour books and wonderful magazines that they self-publish. 

3. Laie is an international bookstore with almost forty years of experience serving readers, with a wide collection of books on literature, philosophy, social sciences, history, art, architecture, cinema and music. Booksellers here are kind, so ask them whatever you need, even for rare and out of print books, they have them all. This is an oasis in the city center of Barcelona, distributed on two floors with a lovely terrace in the heart of Eixample. 

Laie offers more than 300m2 of culture and natural light.

4. Our next stop is on Carrer de Bailèn: Gigamesh, the mecca for sci-fi fans and subculture. If you like to read fantasy and horror genres, you will be happy here. They specialized in comics, role games and Gigamesh is also a successful publisher that in 2002 bought the Spanish rights to the Game of Thrones saga. It’s a ritual to go there and explore, until you find a friqui edition or a weird fanzine. Don’t hesitate and ask for help: they know everything.

5. Last but not least, El Lokal Botiga is an interesting place of books and activism. Since 1987, this brilliant spot of the Raval district has offered alternative titles and critical thinking publications. The book of the week is “Agresores, resistentes y cimarrones”, and it talks about colonization and slavery in America, by Miquel Izard, a Catalan historian. They believe in Books for social transformation. The independent shop also offers music, with great vinyl records. 

Bonus track: If you are more into vintage shops, these 3 are great:

Llibreria Saturnàlia, Plaça del Sol de Gràcia. A non-profit associated cooperative that promotes culture through activities, networks and second-hand titles.

Librería Aloe: Carrer de Lluís Marià Vidal, 10 08032 Barcelona. Full of novels and kind attention. 

On the road: Carrer de Verdaguer i Callís, 14, 08003 Barcelona. Design, Graphics, poetry, and the Beat Generation writers. 

Living and working in Barcelona, #cityjobber, you may be dreaming of travelling to the Pyrinees this weekend. Instead, these are good moments for great readings and digital disconnection in Barcelona. Happy Friday and Day of Bookstores!