Travel to India without leaving Barcelona. Discover the Indian neighborhood or "Little India" in Barcelona and immerse yourself in a fusion of cultures that bring to Barcelona a unique cultural richness and diversity.
Andmake sure you end your visit with a Masala Chai!
History of the Indian community in Barcelona
The history of the Indian community in Barcelona dates back to the middle of the 20th century, when in 1947 India gained independence from the British Empire and the partition of the territory with Pakistan took place. Many traders forced to change the location of their homes, decided to move to Europe and start businesses importing Indian or Pakistani products.
At the beginning, they looked for locations with ports where it was relatively easy to establish their import and commercialization businesses, being the faovrites the Canary Islands, Ceuta, Tangier and Melilla. A few years later they began to spread throughout the country and currently some 25,000 Indians live in Spain.
Little India Barcelona
The Indian neighborhood in Barcelona is located in the Raval, mostly concentrated between Hospital and Carmen streets, as well as the Rambla del Raval.
In Little India in Barcelona you will find several supermarkets with hundreds of spices, oils, different varieties of legumes and an endless number of typical ingredients of the country. They also have fresh vegetables such as Okra or Indian chilies and many spicy snacks that are well worth trying.
There are a couple of confectioneries with specialties of Indian sweets that are a paradise for those who enjoy them like me [I'll tell you a secret: they have Jalebi, my favorite sweet 🙂 ]. Here is a picture of the place where I always buy them... During the Diwali festival, it is a spectacle how many Indians come to buy trays full of sweets.
Besides the grocery stores, along these streets there are several Indian restaurants with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. Don't miss the opportunity to try the homemade food of these establishments during your visit to Raval.
In addition to all these stores, in the Indian neighborhood of Barcelona there is also a Sikh temple (Gurudwara) located at 97 Hospital street. Did you know that there are about 3000 Sikh citizens in Barcelona? "Sharing" is one of the pillars of this religion and it is common that in all Sikh temples around the world free food is offered, cooked by volunteers. This particular temple offers food to about 600 people a day and most of them are not Sikhs.
But there are not only pleasures to savor, in the Indian quarter of Barcelona you can also find sari stores, tailors who make your clothes to measure, jewelry and accessories with Bollywood style.
Probably you don't know it but the cultural contribution of the Indian community in Barcelona is such that there is a touristic tour called "India in Barcelona", it is done on weekends. A tour of Indian culture in the Raval neighborhood to strengthen ties between local and Indian culture.
How to get there?
The nearest metro stop is "Liceu" on line 3.
Map of the Indian quarter of Barcelona
I hope you find this article about "Little India" in Barcelona useful and enjoy this experience in the heart of Barcelona.
Namaste 🙂
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