Barcelona was pretty high on my “cities to visit” list. In fact, it has occupied the #1 spot for over two years since I went to Venice. It was only recently that I managed to organize a 5-days week-end in Barça – and I wasn’t disappointed. If you’re still hesitating, stop. I didn’t expect the city to be that big though, which means there are still plenty of things I haven’t seen. A valid reason to come back!
Spain is one of the most cigar-consuming countries in Europe, so just like in Madrid I was expecting to be able to find some cigars there. Most of the tobacco shops (easily recognizable by a yellow “Tabacs” sign) carry a basic selection of Cubans (Cohiba, Montecristo, Partagas…), but of course I was on my quest to locate the best shops in order to share this valuable information with you. After some research, I selected two shops: Casa Fuster and Gimeno.
Casa Fuster is located at 29 Rambla de Catalunya (Google Maps >), one of the most splendid streets of Barcelona. A certified “Habanos Specialist”, it doesn’t have a walk-in humidor, but it carries an impressive selection of older releases. For example, I got some Romeo y Julieta 2005 Limitadas and a lot of Spanish regional editions, all available for purchase as singles. Of course, you’ll be able to find some non-Cubans as well. By the way, cigar prices in Spain are regulated at the government level, so don’t bother comparing prices at multiple outlets.
Gimeno (Google Maps >) is situated right in front of the Boqueria market (a major attraction in itself!). Because of its central and touristic location, the place is quite crowded and the employees are rather busy. The selection of singles is limited, but if you’re into boxes there’s an impressive cave downstairs, just ask a seller to have a look.
Have you visited these cigar shops in Barcelona? Feel free to share your favorite ones in the comments below.
Gimeno is one of the most reputed estancos in all of Spain. It was known for having jewels in its cellar, but don’t know if that holds true in our days. I said I would call Gimeno for the RyJ 2005 but as I am reading you found them in Casa Fuster. Will try there. As you say prices are regulated so no worries on that side, but as an added attraction your RyJ 2005 were the same price as in the year they first went on sale, that is 9 Euros. Ediciones Limitadas cannot change their price throughout the years. Hope you enjoyed your stay, Barcelona is a beautiful city !!!
I just visited Baracelona and went to a few cigar shops. By far Gimeno has the best selection and I was also shown the downstairs humidor and it also was impressive. I highly recommend visiting Gimeno if you are in Baracelona on La Ramblas.
That place is like a candy store!
I wish I could go back to Europe and browse all those tobacco stores, in Toronto I fear we have very little choice and the choices we do have are crippled by taxes.:(