Barcelona voted Spain’s luxury shopping capital

ACCORDING to reports from The Spanish Association of Luxury and its president, Christina Martin, Barcelona has been voted Spain’s favourite shopping destination amongst luxury product consumers.

The Catalonian capital leads the Spanish luxury shopping table by accomplishing 32 per cent of the overall sales recorded in 2015. Considering that the luxury sector in Spain achieved a turnover of €6 billion for that year, Barcelona accounted for €1,920 billion of the total. 

Next at the top of the table for preferred shopping destinations is Marbella, with 27 per cent of the overall sales total, Madrid with 16 per cent, Ibiza with 8.5 per cent, Mallorca with 6 per cent, Bilbao with 2.8 per cent and, finally, San Sebastian, with 1.5 per cent.

Sales of gourmet and beauty products made up 55 per cent of total business volume, making them the most popular luxury products purchased in Spain. This is an increase of 4.8 per cent over 2014, reports Martin.

Furthermore, turnover for the luxury sector is continuously growing for Spain, increasing by 15 per cent compared to 2014.

Spain’s ranking amongst the European Union luxury market is fifth place, behind France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland. According to Martin, the luxury sector has remained afloat in terms of production levels and sales thanks to global tourism and export. 

Some Spanish luxury brands such as Loewe, Balenciaga and Carolina Herrera have become staples in the international luxury retail scene.