Oh the horror :D. Yes, that is how we felt when we realized that most shopping malls and grocery stores were closed on Sunday. Depending on where you live in Spain or Italy, your experience will vary, but in general try not to shop on Sunday… you’ve been warned.
In California, we had grown thinking all grocery stores were alike. We have Safeway, Albertsons, Vons, Lucky, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, FoodMaxx, etc. These stores vary in terms of price and decor, but they all have one thing in common, unless the world is ending, they’ll be open 7 days per week. Not so in Southern Europe (Spain and Italy for sure).
We had grown accustomed to shopping for food on Sunday. After a long week of work, we’d use Sundays to go shopping. We tried the same in Spain, only to drive from town to town looking for a grocery store that was open. We lived in the North East region of Spain. In that region, the only towns that have open groceries on Sundays are on the coast, and they close by 5pm. So if you live in Barcelona city, or anywhere inland, you are out of luck, or you better drive. You may find quick-grocers open, but not a place where a family would go “grocery” shopping.
Grocery stores in Spain are open Monday through Saturday, 9am to 9pm. Most people go shopping on Monday. If you go on Tuesday after a long weekend, you’ll find a scene out of Walmart after Thanksgiving. There are plenty of grocery stores in Spain. We tended to go to Mercadona or CarreFour. Mercadona is mostly for Food items, while CarreFour will also carry household articles, electronics, clothing, etc. There is also Alcampo which reminded us of Walmart. If you live in Sevilla, you can go to Costco. As of the time we moved back, there was only one Costco in the whole of Spain.
Shopping habits are a bit different there also. Rather than 1 weekly trip, people, ourselves included, visit the grocery stores multiple times per week. In most towns and cities, there are municipal markets that tend to have fresher and/or exotic food, though more expensive. These markets are very well visited as well.
Another interesting difference is the food itself. Food is generally physically smaller. When compared to food in California, almost all fruits and vegetables are about 3/4 the size (or less). Fruits and vegetables are not shinny and “ready to eat”. In general you need to wash everything as it’s full of dirt and other artifacts. And on the surface you may take this comment as an insult, but it’s the complete opposite. Food is much tastier than in California. Tastes and textures are stronger.
Food does not last as long as here. That is another compliment. The food is not full of preservatives. So while your bread does not last you 1 week (1 day if you are lucky), you can just go and buy a fresh loaf down the street.
Finally, in general, food is cheaper there. Our weekly food budget over there was about 25% less.
