Most of the mainstream stores can be found on a shopping 'axis' that looks something like the hands of a clock set at a quarter to five. From the waterfront it leads up La Rambla through Placa de Catalunya and on up Passeig de Gracia. At Avinguda Diagonal you turn left. From here as far as Placa de la Reina Maria Cristina (especially the final stretch from Placa de Francesc Macia) the Diagonal is jammed with places where you can empty your bank account. The T1 Tombbus service has been laid on for the ardent shopper and eventually a tram may run the length of Avinguda Diagonal, too.

The best shopping areas in central Barcelona are Passeig de Gracia and the streets to its southwest, including the Bulevard Rosa arcade just north of Carrer d'Arago, and Barri Gotic streets such as Carrer de la Portaferrissa, Carrer de la Boqueria, Carrer del Call, Carrer de la Llibreteria and Carrer de Ferran, and around Placa de Sant Josep Oriol.

Department-store bargain-hunters should note that the winter sales officially start on or around 10 January and their summer equivalents on or around 5 July. The big department stores (such as El Corte Ingles) and shopping complexes (such as El Triangle) tend to open from 9am or 10am through to 9pm or 10pm at night, Monday to Saturday. Smaller shops often close for a few hours at lunchtime (around 2pm to 4pm).

La Banqueria Market		Barcelona's prime shopping districts are the Passeig de Gracia, Rambla de Catalunya, the Placa de Catalunya, Porta de l'Angel, and Avinguda Diagonal up to Carrer Ganduxer. Farther out on the Diagonal is shopping colossus L'Illa, which includes FNAC, Marks & Spencer, and plenty of other consumer temptations. The Maremagnum mall, in Port Vell, is another option. Carrer Tuset, north of the Diagonal, has lots of small boutiques. For affordable, old-fashioned Spanish shops, prowl along Carrer Ferran. The area surrounding the Placa del Pi, from the Boqueria to Carrer Portaferrissa and Carrer de la Canuda,has fashionable boutiques and jewelry and gift shops. Check along Carrer
Banys Vellsand, one street north of Carrer Montcada, along Carrer Flassaders for design stores, jewelry, and knickknacks of all kinds. Most stores are open Monday-Saturday 9-1:30 and 5-8, but some close in the afternoon. Virtually all close on Sunday. Places like Vincon and BD delight the eye and stimulate the imagination nearly as quickly as they inhibit your credit card draw (design is expensive). Passeig de Gracia is becoming known as one of the great shopping avenues in the world, while searching through Barcelona's antiques district along Carrer de la Palla is always an adventure. The shops opening daily around Santa Maria del Mar in the Barri de la Ribera range from Catalan and international design artifacts of all kinds to Moroccan ceramics to high fashion to nuts and spices, while the megastores in Placa de Catalunya, along the Diagonal, and in L'Illa, farther west, are commercial free-for-alls selling everything under the sun. For high fashion, browse carefully through Passeig de Gracia and the Diagonal between Placa Joan Carles I and Placa Francesc Macia. For music, books, sports, clothes, and food, try L'Illa shopping center on the Diagonal west of Entenca or El Triangle in Placa de Catalunya at the head of the Rambla. Antiques shopping alone could keep you booked solid in Barcelona, with two dozen of the best shops in the Gothic Quarter, another 70 shops off Passeig de Gracia in the Bulevard dels Antiquaris, and more in Gracia and Sarria.