Okay, one should say that el Corte Ingles ahas two parts and each deserves its own score. First, there is the merchandise part. This part gets 5 stars. They have everything one might need and the price, though a little high, is reasonable. The staff are well-trained and super-helpful. Each caja we visited was patient and helpful. I cannot praise them enough. On the other hand, avoid their cafeteria like the plague. It's not the food. It's not the services. Rather, it's the bait-and-switch when it comes to the "specials." Although the basic prices are a little higher than would find in the neighborhood, the specials are where one gets screwed. My spouse had a salad. High quality. Generous size. Good price at 8.5 euros. The beer was 3.30 for a "jars." All good. However, the special - a dish that consisted of a dozen anchovies on a platter, with a sprinkle of chives and oil, along with a few very thin slices of toast and crushed tomatoes was, get this, 22.50! Price was not on the menu and was not mentioned by the waiter. So, by all means, visit the department store for your needs, but... Avoid their cafeteria like Covid! read more

This is THE place to shop for anyone traveling in Spain. It is a chain store and you can find them anywhere from Madrid to Zaragoza to the Canary Islands. They are very consistent in that every store carries pretty much the same content so that bottle of wine (or handbag) you saw in the store in Zaragoza but didn't have time to get should be at the same store in Madrid. The store has 5 floors and you can buy anything from shoes and handbags to TV's and electronic gear to sports wear to a travel package. Only drawback is that the store personnel usually only speak Spanish which is tough on English-only tourists... btw, while this is listed under restaurants,- it shouldn't be since it's mainly a department store like Macy's, Nordstrom's etc. with a small restaurant section which is not really noteworthy! read more