Useful Shops and Supermarkets!

Our first few days were spent trying to stock up on all of the things that we would need but couldn’t pack in suitcases, such as shampoo and sun tan lotion. We wasted loads of time either looking for shops, wandering around the wrong type of shops, going to the shops when they are closed or realising we couldn’t carry all the shopping that we wanted to buy home. So we did lots of little shops, here is a brief guide to some of the places we went shopping and how useful (or not) they were to us!

SuperCerka – Calle de Fideo
Open: ? – 2pm and 6pm – 9.30pm

We live in Plaza de Mina, so this is the closest supermarket to us, although I’m not sure you could quite class it as a supermarket, it is fairly small but contains all the essentials. The prices for some things in here such as washing powder are a little bit higher than elsewhere, so wouldn’t do an everyday shop there, but good if you just want to pop round the corner for something you have forgotten (well, unless you live far away!). There is a fair range of cheap alcohol and soft drinks always useful to know ;) .

Ultramainos Barreda Mantequeria – Calle San Jose n.1
Open: ? – Late!

This shop is great for mainly one thing – cheap alcohol! Yeah, that’s about it, there is food and other bits and pieces in there, but I would only use it for drinks.

Superdrug style shop – Calle Novenana
Open: All day so far as I am aware

I don’t know what this shop is called, but it is like a superdrug, has all your cosmetics needs as well as household stuff like washing powder and toilet roll. There are lots of easily recognisable brands sold in this shop which is great if you are after a certain product that you have struggled to find elsewhere. The prices aren’t bad, especially if you are not after the big brand products. It is near to lots of other easily recognisable shops such as Mango and Zara, so if you are coming to this area make sure you either want and have the means to go shopping, or can avoid the temptation of familiarity.

Carrefour – Plaza Libertad
Open: 9.15am – 9.15pm

This is a nice large supermarket, with a great range of pretty much everything you could need when initially arriving in Cádiz. There is a wide variety of food in there and it is all fairly priced, some of the offers are very good, so grab them when you can. Make sure you take a basket on your way in, I sometimes did the ‘oh I only need a couple of things, I won’t need a basket’ thing, I then couldn’t carry everything I wanted to the check out. Make sure you don’t buy so much that you can’t carry it though. They do provide a free home delivery service for large purchases, so if you see someone with a full trolley, don’t queue behind them if possible because they are probably using the delivery service which takes a little while to organise. I would recommend taking a little ‘granny trolley’ along with you to shop here and do a big shop, that way you don’t have to worry about carrying everything, and you won’t look uncool, most people have them!

Supersol – Plaza Libertad
Open: ? -2pm and 6pm – 9pm

This is another useful supermarket, although a little smaller than Carrefour, so the range of products is not so large, there is a small section of cosmetics and household items, but nowhere near as extensive as the Carrefour. This shop is mainly for food and alcohol, of which there is a good range at a decent price. Although being so close to Carrefour I would usually choose to go to Carrefour instead because there is nothing in Supersol that I haven’t found in Carrefour.

Hipercor in El Corte Ingles – Av de las Cortes de Cádiz
Open: All day

This is the mother of all supermarkets, if you can’t find it here then it probably doesn’t exist in Spain! They have everything from cosmetics, foods, clothing and shoes to electrical equipment, beach chairs and stationary. The prices are all reasonable and there are plenty of discounts available throughout the store. I wouldn’t recommend it for your weekly shop if you are living in the old part of Cádiz as it is a bus ride away so unless you have a car transporting all of your purchases home could be pretty bothersome. I use Hipercor for things that I couldn’t find elsewhere, like a beach towel and some flip flops. Perhaps one day I will do a food shop here, but only for a couple of items, nothing major.

• Top Shopping Tips

• Take your own bags – most places charge for them
• Buy a trolley – These will be great so you can do one large shop and take it home
• Make a list –Try not to get distracted from what you need