Budget Dining in Barcelona: How to Do it Right

The first time I visited Barcelona, I was at the tail end of a 10-week backpacking trip around Europe. I had just four days left before I caught a plane back to the U.K. (where I’d been living) and then home to Canada—and, predictably, I was out of money.

My British and Canadian bank accounts were both tapped out, and while I could still charge my dorm bed—a clear necessity—to my credit card, I stubbornly refused to charge restaurant meals or withdraw cash for groceries on it. (The interest will kill you, y’know.)

Instead, for my remaining days in the Catalonian capital I spent just €10 on food. Suffice to say, there was more tuna-with-pasta involved than there was fine Spanish cuisine. This, I can tell you with certainty, was the wrong way to do budget dining in Barcelona. No fresh, local seafood, no crema catalana, not even a glass of wine. I was so fixated on saving money (or, in this case, not going any further into credit card debt) that I missed out on any local flavor whatsoever.

I thought back to those bleak tuna days today, when I saw EuroCheapo’s excellent tips on eating cheap in Barcelona. The post follows up on last week’s handy list of five Barcelona spots where you can eat for less than €6, and between the two, you’ve got a headstart on a tasty and cheap experience in the city.

I can’t wait to get back to Barcelona myself—only this time I’ll budget accordingly, and pass on the tuna pasta.

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