Where/what to buy in Madrid, Spain 2023

[Evis]

Hey all,
I am on holiday in Madrid, Spain. I did my homework researching about the local shaving product and found most of them.
La Toja, Lea are everywhere and super cheap with lots of deals. Used La Toja in the past, like the AV lotion the most.
Read about Myrsol in the forum just now. Will look for it tomorrow.
There is Gillette, Proraso, Tabac, some other unknown products. But that's about it. Almost every shop is stocked the same. While all these products are great, one way or another I have access to them in my country too, I am from Bulgaria by the way.
Is there any specialized shop that maybe will have more international products to try? I always want try Sterling soaps, can't buy them in my country maybe can find in Madrid? This is just an example, just need to find a shop with more choice. Going to El Corte Ingles next, I will send pictures what I will find there
Thank you for your help in advance

 

[Multum in parvo]

I believe @Marco did tour Spain recently…

 

[sarimento1]

Sir Evis, you might try asking an experienced local Madrid guide. Often these old cities might have 'antique' drug stores and specialty shops tucked away, and the local guides know about them!

 

[Marco]

I believe @Marco did tour Spain recently…

Yes, my friend. This summer I did a cruise on the Mediterranean Sea with two stops in Spain: the Ibiza island and Valencia. In the past I also visited Madrid and Barcelona. Of course, as expected, in Spain you can easily find the aforementioned Spanish brands: La Toja, Lea, the Spanish Aqua Velva, etc. Not totally sure, but for the international brands I'm afraid the best option remains ordering on-line.

 

[Multum in parvo]

My personal pick, Varon Dandy AS and EdC.

 

[GlazedBoker]

Hey all,
I am on holiday in Madrid, Spain. I did my homework researching about the local shaving product and found most of them.
La Toja, Lea are everywhere and super cheap with lots of deals. Used La Toja in the past, like the AV lotion the most.
Read about Myrsol in the forum just now. Will look for it tomorrow.
There is Gillette, Proraso, Tabac, some other unknown products. But that's about it. Almost every shop is stocked the same. While all these products are great, one way or another I have access to them in my country too, I am from Bulgaria by the way.
Is there any specialized shop that maybe will have more international products to try? I always want try Sterling soaps, can't buy them in my country maybe can find in Madrid? This is just an example, just need to find a shop with more choice. Going to El Corte Ingles next, I will send pictures what I will find there
Thank you for your help in advance

Once your shaving needs have been met, you need to get your taste buds ready for arguably the best cured ham in the world, jamon serrano or jamon iberico (sorry Italy). In my personal opinion it's the best cured ham worldwide. Chase it with Tinto de Verano. Deeeeeeeelicous!!!!

 

[Evis]

The jamon is very delicious. I prepared a few small packs to try to smuggle through the airport

About the shaving products hunt, this is it. No luck in El Corte Ingles, in fact it was the worst place for such products, very disappointing.
So in general mostly the local brands can be found. That's ok though I will continue my hunt on my next holiday in a foreign country.

One more thing. Very hard to find double edge blades here. Many shops don't have any. Found by accident Bic in a very small store in a very tiny street. And the other were King C Gillette 10 blades pack only in some of the stores of the Malls.

 

[ZeelandsRoem]

One more thing. Very hard to find double edge blades here. Many shops don't have any. Found by accident Bic in a very small store in a very tiny street. And the other were King C Gillette 10 blades pack only in some of the stores of the Malls.

My experience mirrors yours. I just came back from a holiday in Spain where I traveled by plane, so taking a SR or DE blades with me was not possible. I visited different stores there and found nothing besides the KCG 10 blades packs. Some stores did not even carry Gillette Mach 3 or Gillette cartridge razors (looking at you, Lidl). Eventually, I bought the KCG 10 pack for an absurd price and quit searching.

Now, imagine not having the KCG 10 packs available, that could have been a lot worse.

For the record, I do not blame the Spanish stores as this is quite common in EU and I expect in many other places as well. After all, very few people wet shave and even fewer use DEs. I don't even remember when was the last time I saw common DE blades (excluding the new KCG 10 pack offering) in a supermarket.

 

[Goblin]

The jamon is very delicious. I prepared a few small packs to try to smuggle through the airport

About the shaving products hunt, this is it. No luck in El Corte Ingles, in fact it was the worst place for such products, very disappointing.
So in general mostly the local brands can be found. That's ok though I will continue my hunt on my next holiday in a foreign country.

One more thing. Very hard to find double edge blades here. Many shops don't have any. Found by accident Bic in a very small store in a very tiny street. And the other were King C Gillette 10 blades pack only in some of the stores of the Malls.

I am surprised - I have never actually tried to buy DE blades in Spain but I would have expected that any reasonably large, central farmacia would have had some brand of generic DE blades available. Was that not the case?

Might have to rethink my travel kit strategy!

 

[Evis]

@Goblin
I tried in one farmacia, they had some basic soaps, but no blades.
Blades I found across all my travel were only Bic chrome platinum for 1 euro, and the KCG for 5 euros. Restocked my La Toja creams and AS though

@Marco
You were right, the best way was ordering online. I found this online shop labarberiashop, not sure if I am allowed to post links to other website. It is situated in the city of Valencia, called them and they said shipping to Madrid was within 24 hours. Have nice soaps that I can't buy from my country. Found it very late though, did not buy anything. I hope this may help the future Madrid turistas