Living in a foreign country, absorbing the local culture, and communicating in a foreign language are some of the great joys of being abroad. A lot of the English-speakers who come to Barcelona either already know how to speak Spanish or enroll in classes to learn as soon as they arrive. Reading in Spanish is a great way of enhancing one’s vocabulary, but that doesn’t mean that those who are learning should limit themselves to books written in the local languages. So where can you find English language books in Barcelona? ShBarcelona gives you a list of places for you to browse.
Related article: Specialty Bookstores in Barcelona
Table of Contents
Hibernian Books
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Hibernian Books is possibly Barcelona’s most famous English language bookstore. They have over 40,000 titles of used, rare, and antique books in English and a handful of books in other languages like Portuguese, Finnish, and Russian. One of the great perks of dealing with Hibernian Books is that they offer you the possibility to declutter your house by bringing them books you no longer have an interest in and in return, they will give you store credit. You won’t win a fortune as they usually offer anything between 25 cents and 1 euro, but it starts piling up and soon enough you may have enough store credit to take a book home without having to pull out your wallet. They have an online catalog which is currently being updated so if you are looking for a particular book, do yourself a favor and go directly to the store.
Location: Carrer de Montseny, 17
Come In English Bookstore
Come In is another great venue for some English book shopping in Barcelona. They have a wide selection of English literature, children’s books and games, as well as an extensive range of language learning supplements for locals who want to learn English, or for English speakers who was to improve their Catalan. At Come In, you will find all of the latest releases and also the most famous classics.
Location: Carrer de Balmes, 129-Bis
Re-Read
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A fantastic and unique second-hand bookstore with eight locations in Barcelona is Re-Read. Not exclusively an English language store, they do however have a selection of books in English, Catalan, French and some other languages. They also buy or swap your second-hand books, though the value they offer per book is really very low, with a set price of 20 cents. The great thing about Re-read is that they also sell their used books at set prices, which are 3€ for one book, 5€ for two books, or 10€ for five books. At Re-read, it pays to buy in bulk, since the prices per book lower as the number of books purchased grows.
Location: Carrer Rosselló, 158, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 564, Passeig de Sant Joan, 152, and five more locations.
Related article: Language Bookstores
Sant Antoni Market
Whilst not exclusively a book market, on Sundays, this beautiful and historic building is host to extensive flea markets. There are dozens of book stalls at Sant Antoni Market to browse through, many of which include English language collections. Antique and rare titles are also to be found. This market is well worth a visit for the architecture, and the scrumptious traditional food stalls.
Location: Carrer del Comte d’Urgell, 1
Fnac
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Fnac is a French chain of culture-related items and electronic appliances store which now has branches in a variety of cities all around the world. They have a very large book section, with shelves dedicated to foreign languages. When you visit Fnac at El Triangle, right by Plaza Catalunya, you will be more than pleased to see all the large shelves they have dedicated to books in your language. There are now five Fnac Stores in Barcelona, so there’s always one near you.
Location: El Triangle Mall, Plaça de Catalunya, 4, L’Illa Diagonal Mall, Avinguda Diagonal, 549 and three more locations.
BCN Books
BCN Books is a well-stocked English language bookstore, offering new and older titles of English fiction and non-fiction. This venue may also interest foreign travelers since they have a section dedicated to travel guides, maps, and other local resources.
Location: Carrer de Roger de Llúria, 118
What is your favourite bookstore and why?
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