Monday 24 November 2014

Gluten Free Barcelona

Back in February, a group of us flew to Barcelona to spend the weekend with one of our friends, who was living out there as part of her year abroad at university. She had been living there for around four months by the time we went, so had worked out all the great places to visit being gluten free. And, as she was fluent in Spanish, I new I wouldn't have to worry when eating out. 

When I first arrived, one of the things that amazed me was how aware Spain is with Coeliac Disease. Almost everything gluten free is clearly listed on the packet 'Sin Gluten', meaning no gluten, so you could feel completely confident in what you were buying. 

We were staying in Esquerra d'Eixample which had local markets near by, and a health food shop. I bought chocolate rice cakes to snack on (demolish). 

Gluten free rice cakes

gluten free barcelona

Wondering around the city on the Saturday we discovered a gluten free and dairy free ice cream parlour called Gelaaati! This was perfect as one of my friends is dairy free, and as we were both craving something sweet, it was a god send.

gluten free crepes

gluten free ice-cream

Not all the ice cream was dairy free, but they had a few options to choose from, and not just sorbet. 

dairy free ice cream

And gluten free cones! 

gluten free ice cream cones

I went for a gf crepe, with Nutella of course. I watched them clean the plate before cooking, and get the batter from a different tub. They also changed their utensils which was just amazing. 

gluten free crepes


We spent the majority of the weekend munching through huge amounts of Paella, Patatas Bravas and various seafood dishes, not to mention the many glasses of Sangria. I avoided the obvious things that I knew would contain gluten, and felt absolutely fine the whole weekend. 

We also stumbled across a sweet shop with clearly labeled pick 'n' mix. 

gluten free sweets

gluten free pick n mix

gluten free maple syrup

gluten free Spanish snacks

gluten free crisps

paella

coeliac Barcelona

barcelona

The one place I did have difficulty was the airport on the way home. I recommend either eating before or taking a snack with you, as evan the rice salads they had at a coffee shop had 'may contain gluten' written on the back. 

Overall though, an exceptional trip, with no stressful/anxious eating situations. If you were ever hungry there was always going to be something you could eat.  

Maybe I will move there one day, I just need to expand my non existent Spanish vocab. 







1 comment:

  1. Hi Hana! Sounds like you had an amazing trip :) I have been so scared to travel since I was diagnosed with CD, but you have inspired me to book a holiday. Spain is definitely a place I would love to visit! I was really impressed to read about your experience in the crepe shop. I love hearing about cafes and shops that advertise as being GF, and actually stick to it!! I hate being the annoying customer and asking questions about cross contamination and 'double dipped' utensils, but I so often discover that food which is supposed to be GF, actually isn't!! Anyway, I am starting to ramble...haha great post, loved it! :) xx

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