Barcelona is certainly among Europe's cities of style. It is a natural magnet for the fashion-conscious and there is no shortage of design outlets for even the most tireless consumer. Everything from books to jewels, haute couture (local and international), designer furniture, cava and condoms is on offer. Several markets animate squares around the centre of town.

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).
Department Stores

The single best department store is El Corte Ingles (tel 93 306 38 00; Placa de Catalunya), with smaller offshoots spread about the surrounding area. It has another important branch northwest of town on Placa de la Reina Maria Cristina and a third on Avinguda Diagonal.

FNAC (Avinguda Diagonal 549), the French-owned store specialising in CDs, tapes, videos and books, is worth exploring for these items. The shop is part of a huge shopping mall - l'Illa del Diagonal - considered one of the city's more interesting architectural developments since the Olympic Games.

A more central shopping centre, El Triangle (Placa de Catalunya) houses a branch of FNAC and a collection of other stores, including Habitat.

If you like shopping emporia, the Centre Comercial de les Glories, by the massive roundabout and metro stop of the same name, could be for you. It counts 250,000 square metres of space in the grounds of the former Hispano Olivetti factory, and is also home to a range of bars and eateries to take your mind off shopping for a while.

Hypermarket lovers in Barcelona were given the ultimate treat in 2001 with the opening of Heron City, an enormous complex of shops, cinemas, bars, restaurants and other diversions. It's located well out of the centre of town at Passeig de Andreu Nin, just off Avinguda de la Meridiana about 4km north of Placa de les Glories Catalanes (metro Fabra i Puig). Yes, mall mentality has arrived.

Late-Night Stores

The concept of the 24-hour general store has yet to reach Barcelona, but an approximation is VIPS (tel 93 317 48 05; Rambla de Catalunya; open 9am-3am daily), an import from Madrid. In Madrid the chain thrives, but in Barcelona it hasn't really caught on. Another one to try is 7-Eleven (tel 93 318 88 63; Carrer de Roger de Lluria 2; open 7am-3am daily).

Need photocopies or films developed at 5am? Head for Workcenter (tel 902 11 50 11; Carrer de Roger de Lluria 2), a printing and reproduction centre open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Markets

Large Els Encants Vells ('the old charms'; open 8am-7pm, and to 8pm during summer), also known as the Fira de Bellcaire, is held every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday next to Placa de les Glories Catalanes. The markets moved here in August 1928 from Avinguda Mistral, near Placa d'Espanya, because the sight of such a jumble sale did not fit in with the town fathers' visions for the 1929 World Exhibition. For years there has been talk of shifting them again but for the moment they seem set to stay put. You can find everything here - all at preus de ganga (bargain-basement prices).

In Barri Gotic, there's a crafts market (Placa de Sant Josep Oriol) on Thursday and Friday, an antiques market (Placa Nova) on Thursday, and a coin and stamp collectors' market (Placa Reial) on Sunday morning. On the western edge of El Raval, Mercat de Sant Antoni (metro Sant Antoni) dedicates Sunday morning to old maps, stamps, books and cards.
If you can't break away from the old town, Carrer dels Banys Nous in Barri Gotic is lined with antique shops and is a good area to start. The side streets in the immediate area, including Carrer de la Palla, also hide a bevy of antique shops. While you're wandering along Carrer de la Palla, glance up at No 21 - it was once the Hospital de Sant Saver - founded back in 1462.

There are alternatives. Bulevard dels Antiquaris, Passeig de Gracia 55 (part of the Bulevard Rosa arcade complex) is jammed with more than 70 antiques shops, most of a general nature (furnishings, paintings, decorative items) with a few specialists: Brahuer (jewellery), Dalmau (wooden picture frames), Govary's (porcelain dolls) and Victory (crystal).

Art

You could start hunting for art in several places. Along Carrer de Montcada are several commercial galleries, the biggest being Galeria Maeght (Carrer de Montcada 25). Others include the Galeria Surrealista, next to the Museu Picasso, the Sala Montcada of the Fundacio La Caixa (Carrer de Montcada 16), Galeria Beaskoa next door and Galeria Montcada (jammed in next to the Palau de Dalmases). In Barri Gotic you'll find several galleries in Carrer de Petritxol.

Predictably enough, the presence of the Museu d'Arte Contemporani de Barcelona in El Raval is turning the surrounding area into an artsy zone. You'll find a half dozen small galleries and designer stores on Carrer del Doctor Dou, Carrer d'Elisabets and Carrer dels Angels.

The classiest concentration of galleries - about a dozen of them - is on the short stretch of Carrer del Consell de Cent between Rambla de Catalunya and Carrer de Balmes. A particularly interesting place is Galeria Victor Saavedra (tel 93 238 51 61; Carrer d'Enric Granados 97). Saavedra, himself an artist, has been promoting all sorts of artists from around Europe since the late 1980s.

The Guia del Ocio also carries a limited list of art galleries.