Prior to my visit to Barcelona, I did some research on the best supermarkets for affordable…read moregrocery items. I'd heard about €10 cups of yogurt (something like that) & wanted to make sure I DIDN'T end up at these supermarkets. Our host did warn me that shopping at Mercadona would be "tricky". I wasn't sure what he meant until I went there myself. Prior to Mercadona, every supermarket I'd been to in the Americas & Asia had more or less been the same in terms of structure/system. At Mercadona - at least the 1 I went to, can't remember anymore which 1 it was - I noticed customers queueing up at the cashiers near the entrance with their merchandise, but the merchandise was nowhere to be found. Hehe. So I followed this guy to the elevator, & the elevator took us to the second floor. That's where the merchandise was. As I lined up to pay for my purchases, 1 of the workers asked me something (in Catalan). I said I didn't speak the language, & he asked me if my car was parked in the basement. I said no, & he directed me towards the line where I should be paying for my stuff. So I take it some Mercadonas are structured this way, I guess that's just their own system of organization. Mercadona did happen to have everything I needed, & offered them at good, affordable prices. I'd be happy to do my grocery shopping here again, next time I'm in Barcelona.

I love this place. We got great wine for under 4 euros a bottle (sometimes under 3). Fruit was…read moregreat. Yogurt was delicious. Bread was fresh. I kept butter in our mini fridge so we could pack butter sandwiches when we hiked around and didn't want to stop for food (also made good late night snacks with anchovy stuffed olives.) I bought Marcona almonds here for souvenirs- because they were better than the other Marconas I had tried. I also bought lots of other things to take home. Such fun to bring home food souvenirs! I am also a fan of Vichy Catalan- sparking water- which I could buy here in big bottles. Everything was delicious and was a good price. We used the little green plastic carts. If you want to use a metal grocery cart you must put a euro in to get it "loose"- and when you put it back you get your euro back. We ran into the same system in Utrecht. It must cut down on shopping cart theft. This store also has household cleaning items, makeup- pretty much anything you need. I highly recommend it.