Arriving in Barcelona on a Sunday afternoon and looking for a supermarket is a specific kind of frustration, and it has a specific cause: the chain, not the neighbourhood. Mercadona is the name a visitor sees most often on the street, and none of its 28 stores with published hours opens on Sunday. Sorli does not open either, and Consum, Lidl, Bonpreu and Veritas manage one store each. What does open is the small stuff: all 10 Coaliment stores, 11 of 12 Charter and 9 of 10 Suma. The city census lists 1,587 supermarkets and food shops, 499 of them with readable hours, and 252 of those open on Sunday.
Which supermarkets open on Sunday in Barcelona? The proximity chains: Coaliment opens all 10 of its stores, Charter 11 of 12, Suma 9 of 10 and BonÀrea 13 of 15. Of the large chains, Carrefour opens 10 of 14, Dia 18 of 27 and Condis 37 of 59. Mercadona and Sorli open none.
Which chains open and which do not
The split is clean and has nothing to do with where you are staying. At the top sit the proximity and franchise chains: Coaliment with 10 of 10, Charter with 11 of 12, Suma with 9 of 10 and BonÀrea with 13 of 15. Between them they run 47 stores and open 43 on Sunday, and three of the four close at 10:45pm or later on weekdays.
At the bottom sit the weekly-shop chains. Mercadona opens none of its 28, Sorli none of its 12, and Consum, Lidl, Bonpreu and Veritas open one out of 19, 14, 14 and 12 respectively. Ametller Origen opens 2 of 10 and Aldi 3 of 10.
In between are the chains where the individual store decides: Condis opens 37 of its 59, Dia 18 of 27 and Caprabo 14 of 23. With those three, which add up to 109 stores, the sign on the door tells you nothing and you have to check the branch nearest you.
What to do if you land on a Sunday
Six steps, in the order that saves the most walking on a first Sunday in the city.
- Look for a Coaliment, Charter, Suma or BonÀrea first. Between them they open 43 of their 47 city stores that day, and they are small enough to sit inside residential blocks.
- Do not walk to a Mercadona or a Sorli. Neither opens a single store on Sunday, and both are common enough that the walk feels like a safe bet.
- Check a Condis before a Dia. Condis opens 37 of 59 and is the chain with most branches in the city, so the odds of one being open near you are the best of the big names.
- Skip the markets. All 39 municipal markets, La Boqueria included, close on Sunday.
- If it is late, look for a 24-hour shop. There are 51, and 22 of them are in three Eixample neighbourhoods.
- Carry a card and a bag. Card payment is standard and plastic bags are charged for by law, so a folded bag saves a few cents each time.
Hours by chain
| Chain | Open on Sunday | Stores with hours | Weekday closing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coaliment | 10 of 10 | 10 stores | midnight |
| Charter | 11 of 12 | 12 stores | 10:45pm |
| Suma | 9 of 10 | 10 stores | 11:00pm |
| BonÀrea | 13 of 15 | 15 stores | 9:00pm |
| Carrefour | 10 of 14 | 14 stores | 10:45pm |
| Dia | 18 of 27 | 27 stores | 9:00pm |
| Condis | 37 of 59 | 59 stores | 11:00pm |
| Caprabo | 14 of 23 | 23 stores | 9:30pm |
| Aldi | 3 of 10 | 10 stores | 9:20pm |
| Ametller Origen | 2 of 10 | 10 stores | 9:00pm |
| Veritas | 1 of 12 | 12 stores | 9:00pm |
| Bonpreu | 1 of 14 | 14 stores | 9:00pm |
| Lidl | 1 of 14 | 14 stores | 9:00pm |
| Consum | 1 of 19 | 19 stores | 9:00pm |
| Sorli | none of 12 | 12 stores | 9:00pm |
| Mercadona | none of 28 | 28 stores | 9:15pm |
Opening time is not the useful column, because almost every chain opens at 9am and only Coaliment opens earlier, at 8am. The two columns that decide a plan are Sunday and the closing hour.
How late you can shop on a Sunday
Leaving aside the 24-hour shops, 129 establishments open on Sunday and close at 10pm or later. The latest is Open Cor at Carrer del Capità Arenas 25, in Pedralbes, which runs to 3am, followed by the Supercor stores at Gran de Gràcia 29 and Carrer de Balmes 418, to 2am and 1am.
Coaliment publishes 2am for its les Corts and Sant Gervasi - la Bonanova branches, and EuroSol at Carrer de Provença 238 and Euro Cataluña at Carrer de Padilla 339 both run to 1am. If the problem is dinner rather than groceries, the late-night food map covers the hours after that.
The 51 that never close
Fifty-one supermarkets in Barcelona are open twenty-four hours, seven days a week, out of 499 with published hours, and they are not spread evenly. The hours Coaliment publishes for its les Corts and Sant Gervasi - la Bonanova branches run to 2am, and those Supercor publishes for Gran de Gràcia 29 and Carrer de Balmes 418 to 2am and 1am. la Dreta de l’Eixample holds 14, the Antiga Esquerra 5 and the Nova Esquerra 3: between those three neighbourhoods, 22, close to half of them.
Those with a published address include the Entença Supermercat 24h at Carrer d’Entença 208-210, Super 365 at Travessera de Gràcia 84, Supermerkat Sial at La Rambla 4, Supermercat 24 at Carrer d’Aragó 247 and Super Clot at Carrer d’Aragó 605. In Sants there is Catalunya Alimentació at Avinguda de Madrid 194-196.
Twenty-eight of the 51 carry no trading name on the census, so searching by brand does not help. Four more are in Sant Gervasi - Galvany, three in Sant Antoni, three in the Sagrada Família, two in les Corts and two in Hostafrancs.
How far the nearest all-night shop is
Distances from the points visitors actually stand in, measured straight-line to the closest 24-hour shop on the census: 172 m from the Sagrada Família, to United at Carrer de Provença 453; 313 m from Plaça de Catalunya, to Supermercat Pelai on Carrer de Pelai; 489 m from Plaça del Sol in Gràcia; and 516 m from the middle of La Rambla, to Supermerkat Sial at La Rambla 4.
Two areas are much worse served. From la Barceloneta the nearest one is 1.1 km away, back at La Rambla 4, and from Park Güell it is 1.8 km, down in Sant Gervasi - Galvany. If you are staying in either, a late-night shop is a deliberate trip, not a corner errand.
The 24-hour cluster in the Eixample otherwise overlaps almost exactly with where most visitors stay. If you are in Gràcia or the Gothic Quarter, it is a short walk rather than a doorstep.
Tap water in Barcelona is drinkable, which removes the most common reason to hunt for a shop late at night, though many residents buy bottled for the taste. Local eating hours also shift the problem: lunch runs from 2pm and dinner from 9pm, so a Sunday arrival often means shopping before the first restaurant even opens. A T-casual, the ten-journey ticket, covers metro and bus if the nearest open shop turns out to be two neighbourhoods away. For everything else about a first Sunday in the city, the first-time visitor guide covers transport tickets and what is closed when, and the safety guide covers which areas stay busy after dark.
Choosing by the day and the hour
If it is Sunday morning, the shortlist is Coaliment, Charter, Suma and BonÀrea, plus whichever Condis, Dia or Caprabo happens to open in your street. Mercadona, Sorli, Consum, Lidl, Bonpreu and Veritas are not worth the walk.
If it is a weekday evening, Coaliment runs to midnight and Condis and Suma to 11pm. And if it is the middle of the night, the answer is the 51 that never close.
In Barcelona the sign on the shop tells you the opening hours, not the neighbourhood you are standing in.
Eating out on a Sunday follows the same logic in reverse: tourist neighbourhoods open more than residential ones, with la Sagrada Família at 37 of 45.
Ordinary shops face a far stricter rule: only 58 of 366 open on a Sunday, and the next authorised Sunday is 29 November.
Frequently asked questions about Sunday supermarkets in Barcelona
Which supermarkets open on Sunday in Barcelona?
The small and franchise chains. All 10 Coaliment stores on the census open, along with 11 of 12 Charter, 9 of 10 Suma and 13 of 15 BonÀrea. Of the bigger names, Carrefour opens 10 of 14, Dia 18 of 27, Condis 37 of 59 and Caprabo 14 of 23. In total 252 of 499 stores with published hours open.
Does Mercadona open on Sunday in Barcelona?
No. None of the 28 Mercadona stores with published hours in the city census opens on Sunday, and its usual weekday closing time is 9:15pm. Sorli is the same, with none of its 12 open, and Consum, Lidl, Bonpreu and Veritas each open a single store.
Are there 24-hour supermarkets in Barcelona?
Yes, 51 open around the clock seven days a week according to the census. They cluster in the Eixample: 14 in the Dreta de l’Eixample, 5 in the Antiga Esquerra and 3 in the Nova Esquerra. Those with a published address include Carrer d’Entença 208-210, Carrer de Roger de Llúria 134 and Carrer d’Aragó 247.
What time do supermarkets close in Barcelona?
Most close at 9pm. Coaliment runs to midnight, Condis and Suma to 11pm, Carrefour and Charter to 10:45pm and Caprabo to 9:30pm. Mercadona closes at 9:15pm. Opening time is the same almost everywhere, 9am, so the closing hour is what separates one chain from another.
Is La Boqueria open on Sunday?
No. Sunday is the closing day for all 39 municipal markets, La Boqueria included, and fish and meat stalls shut around 2pm even on weekdays. On Sunday it is a supermarket or a neighbourhood shop.