Question: Do you prefer art, architecture, food or beaches? Answer: It doesn’t matter. Because, if you take a trip to Barcelona, with its rich tapestry of culture, then you can indulge any or all of your passions. If fashion and lifestyle are your passion, you can visit La Roca Village, only 40 minutes from Barcelona, and pick up some of the biggest and best luxury bargains available anywhere in Spain. (The Sagalés bus departs from Fabra i Puig bus station in Barcelona for a return journey to La Roca Village.)
La Roca Village is a shopping street lined with the smartest designer boutiques – Catalan, Spanish and international brands – and pleasingly designed to echo the atmosphere of a traditional Catalan market town for a truly regional experience. This is fashion at its finest, and all sold at prices reduced by up to 60%*, all year round. Smart shoppers like smart savings on smart brands and, as visiting shoppers – such as top model Laura Ponte, Diana Ross, actress
Ursula Andress, graphic designer Jordi Labanda and Spanish fashion icon Purificación Garcia – will know, La Roca Village delivers.
Farrutx and Loewe are two of Spain’s iconic leather brand investments, subtle and beautifully crafted. Camper footwear epitomises the effortless, casual elegance at which the Spanish excel, while Hoss Intropia, a lively Spanish label, is suddenly to be found on red carpets all over the world because the clothes offer super-flattering, easy glamour. A splash of vibrant colour, Custo Barcelona’s collections for men and women are inspired by American psychedelia, whilst Adolfo Dominguez’s hallmark verges more towards Spanish restraint.
The Italian phenomena that are Versace, Ermenegildo Zegna and La Perla are here, along with the German designer Hugo Boss. For casual sassy dressers Diesel is the place, while Tommy Hilfiger is the biggest noise in American cruisewear. Burberry is the great British brand that never goes out of fashion and Petit Bateau sells hard-working but cute clothes for small shoppers at small prices.
Talking of small shoppers, La Roca Village has its own play area to perk them up or wear them out, whichever works for you. And Barcelona’s culture of gastronomy extends to La Roca Village where visitors can enjoy typically delicious Catalan cuisine.
Barcelona itself boasts an embarrassment of riches. Really this is a city that should be tackled on foot (stock up on Timberlands or Nike at La Roca Village to spare yourself blisters) but, if that sounds too much like hard work for a holiday, take the helicopter with BCN Sky Tours and survey Gaudi’s spires, parks and surrealist genius from above or head straight to the smart end of the Costa Brava around 70 kilometres from Barcelona and 50 kilometres from La Roca Village.
The restaurants don’t really start to buzz until 9 o’clock at the earliest so there is plenty of time to stroll through Las Ramblas, a kilometre stretch of bars, street entertainers, markets stalls and restaurants serving every type of tapas imaginable while La Boqueria is the largest food market in Europe and performs a proper assault on the senses.
El Quim de la Boqueria is a famous family-run tapas stall where there is always a queue for the superlative Catalan dishes.
“A new breed of discount mall brings glamour to the frugal,” says Condé Nast Traveller. And right now saving money is the hottest trend of them all.
