Guide to Barcelona

Are the shops open on Christmas day?

Tuesday, 21 December 2010 15:36

Barcelona events and fiestas

When you are spending your Christmas holiday in Barcelona it is good to know what is open and closed during Christmas.  A lot of people enjoy shopping, especially during that time of the year. Therefore a lot of times the question comes up: " are shops in Barcelona closed during Christmas?". Well it depends a normally used rule of thumb is that all shops are closed during public holidays in Spain.
However with Christmas this is not entirely the case, some shops are licensed to stay open up and including December 24, so there is always the possibility to go shopping until then.
But keep in mind that the shops are open only half of the day which means the stores close earlier then normal and you better do the shopping in the morning or otherwise you will end up empty handed.
However huge department stores like FNAC and El Corte Ingles are open until  the evening.
Last thing to keep in mind is that when the 24th of Decemebr is on a sunday all stores will be closed regardless if it is Christmas or not.
But this is not the case in 2010 so no need to worry about it this year. Just enjoy Christmas shopping in Barcelona because it is a great city to do this at.