Barcelona: Being Vegan in Spain
Being vegan in Barcelona is a dream, there are so many options that we couldn’t even visit everywhere we wanted to in one trip! Veganism is growing and evolving so quickly that a couple of years ago you would have never had so many options. There are multiple vegan snack places in the Gothic Quarter, a whole host of vegan restaurants up and down the city and in between everything else one or two great breakfast spots. We’ve all experienced the worry of going on holiday and not being able to find anything you can eat but that couldn’t be further from the truth in Barcelona. It’s no wonder it was voted 4th in the Top 10 Vegan-Friendly Cities 2024 by HappyCow!
Speaking of a great vegan breakfast spot The Vegan Corner in the Gothic Quarter is a traditional Spanish café with a plant-based twist. Serving up fresh sandwiches, pastries, coffees and tortillas amongst all the cakes too. Many mornings in Barcelona we would stop by The Vegan Corner for a coffee and a fresh sandwich before a big walk around the city to Parc Guell or the beach. Our personal favourite menu picks were the ham and cheeze baguettes but especially the tortilla sandwich! Another amazing spot in the Gothic Quarter is Vegetalia Gòtic. Vegetalia are focused on healthy living, serving up food based on freshness, quality, health and local products. They have so many vegan options as well as vegan alternatives for almost everything that isn’t vegan on the menu! We tried the houmous and pittas, pan con tomate and patatas bravas while sitting under the Spanish sun and everything was perfect. I for one am a sucker for patatas bravas and every time I see it on a menu I will order it, but this one was one of my favourites of the trip!
What can I say about Bubita Sangria Bar, I almost want to just say “Go and experience it for yourself and then come back to me”. Bubita describes itself as “innovation meets tradition”. In the heart of Barcelona’s old town, next to the Picasso museum, Bubita blends tapas and sangrias reimagined with a plant-based twist. Twice on this trip, we visited Bubita and both times it absolutely blew us away. Over the course of two visits, we tried the ‘Beach Vibes Reloaded’ with Veggie shrimpz, calamari, lemon shrimpz & local fruit, porcini mushroom croquettes and a lemon shrimpz cocktail with aged brandy cocktail sauce. As well as the Marisko vegan Paella with plant-based seafood. Try Bubita for yourself it is a vegan seafood haven and if I ever revisit Barcelona again, it’ll be the first place I return to!
Alive Vegan Restaurant describes itself as “Mediterranean, homemade and 100% vegan food that will surprise you!” and I could not agree anymore. We ordered the vegan sirloin steak filled with mozzarella in old mustard sauce, cod fritters in pil-pil sauce and patatas bravas. The cod fritters were absolutely mind-blowing, I genuinely couldn’t believe what I was eating and that’s only happened a handful of times since I stopped eating meat. The steaks were so good too. Alive is a great option if you’re looking for a nice sitdown 100% vegan restaurant in Barcelona.
I’ve spoken about this multiple times before but sometimes all I want is a breakfast burrito. Thankfully Honest Greens had me covered. Honest Greens prepare all their in-house food without additives or preservatives and is committed to sustainability, including sourcing from nearby, eco-friendly suppliers whenever possible. The menu offers gluten-free, vegetarian, plant-based, and keto options. As soon as I saw that they did a breakfast burrito I just couldn’t pass it up. Tofu scramble, avocado, pico de gallo, kale, fresh corn, plant-based creme fraîche, coco bacon, black beans, house-made cured red onion and chipotle sauce. It was so fresh and crisp and exactly what I wanted for a hot morning in Barcelona. It wasn’t too heavy or greasy so you didn’t feel sluggish after eating it, afterwards, I was more than ready to go about my day. With locations in Madrid, Porton, Lisbon and London this may not be the last time I order this burrito!