Shelf Awareness

No matter how good your Castilian or Catalan is, at some point you're probably going to find yourself longing for books in your mother tongue. Whether your style is more Hemingway or Hunger Games, you'll be able to find something to please at these shops across town.

Hibernian Books

This secondhand bookshop in Gràcia has been a critical resource for English-speaking residents for years. Hibernian stocks around 40,000 secondhand books, including biographies, fiction, nonfiction and also offers a small section of new books and overstocks. You can peruse the shop's titles online and have your purchase delivered to you anywhere in Spain. And, if you have some books you'd like to get rid of, you can bring them in and the owners will give you store credit for them.

Mon-Sat 10:30-14:00 & 16:00-20:00. C/ Montseny, 17. hibernianbooks.com

COME IN Llibreria Anglesa

Just one block away from Rambla de Catalunya lies an all English language bookstore with a wide selection of fiction, nonfiction and teaching resources, as well as board games, greeting cards and children's books. Its long shelves of the latest releases and back corner of coursebooks and dictionaries will satisfy avid readers and diligent students alike. If you can't make it into the shop, you can browse its online catalogue and have your purchase delivered to you.

Mon-Fri 10:00-20:00. C/ Balmes, 129. libreriainglesa.com

BCN Books

Leave it to the bookstore in Sant Gervasi that’s close to Barcelona British Institute to provide you with a wide range of English language teaching materials, fiction and travel guides.

Mon-Fri 10:00-20:00. C/ Amigó, 81. bcnbooks.com

Re-Read

Re-Read is a chain of secondhand book stores that stocks books primarily in Spanish, but also offers a selection of books in English, Catalan and French. If you have some old books gathering dust that you want to get rid of, you can swap them for store credit. At Re-Read the more you buy the more you save—for one book you pay €3, two books for €5 or five books for €10.

See the website for the locations and hours of each of the eight stores in Barcelona. re-read.com

Abracadabra Children’s Books

A vibrant children's bookshop offering quality titles in a selection of languages, Abracadabra doubles as an activities space offering weekly workshops and storytelling.

Mon-Sat 10:00-14:30, 16:30-20:00. C/ General Álvarez de Castro, 5. abracadabrallibres.com

Llibreria Laie

One of the bigger and more established bookshop chains in Barcelona specializing in humanities, literature and arts, with a significant selection of books in English. The main shop is located off Gran Via—with a café, restaurant and patio on the second level—but it has branches in museums around the city. Online purchasing and home delivery available.

Mon-Fri 10:00-14:00 & 16:30-20. C/ Pau Claris, 85. laie.es/en

La Central

La Central is another specialty bookshop chain with an ample collection of books in English as well as other foreign languages. This location off Rambla de Catalunya features a café, complete with outdoor patio. Online purchasing and home delivery available.

Mon-Fri 10:00-21:00. Sat 10:30-21:00. Carrer de Mallorca, 237. lacentral.com

Casa del Libro

This nationwide chain stocks a section of English language books that range from literary classics to light reads, as well as a selection of guidebooks and language textbooks. There are eight locations in the greater Barcelona area, including two stores on Rambla de Catalunya and one on Passeig de Gràcia. Online purchasing and home delivery available.

Mon-Sat 9:00-21:00. casadellibro.com

Altaïr

Though its selection of English language books is limited, this shop is worth a visit if you're a bibliophile with wanderlust. Altaïr is the largest travel bookshop in Europe, offering a wide selection of travel literature, unique travel guides, topographical maps for hikers and mountain adventurers, nature guides, journals, multilingual dictionaries, a cafe and a travel board where fellow travelers who are looking for travel companions post notices.

Mon-Sat 11:00-14:00 & 16:00-20:00, Gran Via, 616, altair.es

You can also find English language titles in some of the bigger stores such as FNAC at (fnac.es), El Corte Inglés (elcorteingles.es) and even some of the central newspaper kiosks. Additional resources are available at the British Council (britishcouncil.es).

Updated January 2021.