Shopping at Barcelona Airport: duty free, shops in T1 and T2, Shop to Fly and VAT refunds

What do you need?

T1 or T2: what each terminal sells

T1 has about 38 shops and T2 about 15. Most of the fashion, all the footwear and the jewellery are in T1, while T2 has the airport's only supermarket, Carrefour City. The terminals are linked only outside security, by a free shuttle that runs 24 hours, so after the security check you shop where your flight leaves from. Shops open, close and change hands, so look at Aena's directory again shortly before you travel.

Barcelona Duty Free, Express Duty Free, WHSmith, Relay, Ray-Ban, Natura, Barça Store, Vodafone, Ale-Hop, Buff, Stamp, La Vita and the pharmacy are in both terminals, as separate shops with their own location and hours. How to get between the terminals is on the terminal page.

Duty free: who gets the lower price

Barcelona Duty Free is the main store and Express Duty Free the smaller format, and both are after security in T1 and in T2. What you pay depends on where your flight goes. Flying to a destination outside the EU, such as the UK, Switzerland, the USA, Morocco or the Gulf, you get the duty-free price on eligible goods. Flying to another EU country, you pay the normal taxed price.

The gate letter does not decide it either: a flight to Switzerland leaves from a Schengen gate but goes outside the EU, so the duty-free price applies.

Duty free and a VAT refund are two different things. Duty free is a lower price at the till for passengers leaving the EU; a VAT refund is money back, claimed through DIVA, on goods bought earlier by people who live outside the EU. Alcohol and tobacco from the duty-free shops count towards the allowances where you land, and the limits are on the customs page.

Terminal 1: about 38 shops, with the fashion and footwear

T1 is where Vueling, Iberia, LEVEL and most long-haul and full-service airlines fly from, and it is the terminal for clothes and shoes: Mango, Desigual and Lola Casademunt are Catalan labels and Pikolinos a Spanish one, alongside Geox, Levi's and JD Sports. Parfois, VIDAL & VIDAL, Rituals and Victoria's Secret cover accessories and beauty. If your flight leaves from gates D or E, only the shops past passport control remain open to you once you are through; the floors and gates of both terminals are set out on the restaurants page. Each shop's entry in Aena's directory gives its floor, zone and hours.

Terminal 2: about 15 shops for the essentials

T2 keeps to what most travellers need: both duty-free formats, the pharmacy and La Vita, WHSmith and Relay, Vodafone, Ray-Ban, Buff, the souvenir shops and Carrefour City, which T1 does not have. You pass security at T2B or T2C and board from Floor 1, and each shop's entry in Aena's directory says which section it is in.

Catalan and Spanish things to take home

For food gifts, T1 has Torrons Vicens for turrón, Sibarium and Dehesa Santamaría for Iberian ham and gourmet products, and Dolcemania for sweets. In T2, Iberian ham comes from the Enrique Tomás and La Bellota counters on the food side; see restaurants and bars. Ham and other meat products may not be allowed into your destination country, above all outside the EU, so check its rules before you buy.

Barça Store, FC Barcelona's shop, is in both terminals, as are Ale-Hop's novelty gifts, Natura and Stamp. To post something home, Correos post boxes stand in the landside areas, on T1 Floor 3 and on T2 Floor 0, T2B included.

Pharmacy, phone, press and snacks

Aena's shop directory lists a pharmacy in T1 and another in T2, plus La Vita parapharmacy in both terminals; ask at an information desk where the pharmacy is and when it opens. The pharmacy is a shop, separate from the airport's medical service in T1 and T2, which is on the airport services page.

Vodafone has a shop in each terminal, so ask there about SIM cards, and La Casa de las Carcasas in T1 sells phone cases and accessories; the free airport Wi-Fi is on the Wi-Fi page. WHSmith and Relay sell press, books and snacks in both terminals, with GOODNEWS and Hudson as well in T1, and Carrefour City in T2 sells drinks, snacks and basics.

Excess Baggage runs the left-luggage offices on Floor 0 of both terminals; the desk gives current prices, and the rest is on the baggage page.

Before security, on arrival and at night

Most shops are airside, in the departure and boarding areas, so you need a boarding pass to reach them. Some landside and arrivals-area outlets, such as a pharmacy, a press shop or Carrefour City in T2, may be open to anyone; each shop's entry in Aena's directory says whether it is before or after security, and on the departures or the arrivals side.

The airport is open 24 hours, every day, but each shop keeps its own hours, which follow the waves of flights; the hours are on each shop's entry. Before counting on a shop early in the morning or late at night, check its entry or call Aena information on +34 913 211 000, which answers 24 hours. Two Global Exchange currency offices stay open all night, the public office in T1 and the T2B departures office, and T2's petrol station on Floor 0 has a shop open from 06:00 to 22:00.

Shop to Fly: reserve online, collect in your terminal

Shop to Fly is Aena's reserve-and-collect service. You choose products on Aena's website or in the Aena app, reserve them up to 24 hours before your flight, and pick them up in the terminal you fly from. A reservation can hold the item and the price. For food there is Food to Fly; see the restaurants page.

Liquids from the shops, connections and changing terminal

Drinks, perfume and other liquids bought in the shops after security, or on board, can be over 100 ml as long as they stay in the sealed tamper-evident bag (STEB) with the receipt. Do not open the bag before your final destination. If you change planes at another airport, the bag goes through that airport's security check, under its rules.

A connection between T1 and T2 is always landside, so you clear security again at the second terminal: keep everything bought in the first terminal sealed. It may also mean passport control, and collecting your bags and checking them in again if they are not checked through to your final destination, so confirm with your airline and allow at least an extra hour. Liquids from a landside shop, before security, follow the normal 100 ml rule in hand luggage.

VAT refund (Tax Free) with DIVA, step by step

Who can claim

The refund is for people whose habitual residence is outside the EU, and for residents of the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, on goods for personal use that leave the EU within three months of the purchase. UK residents count as non-EU residents; EU residents cannot claim. Ask the shop before you pay whether your purchase qualifies for a DIVA form.

At Barcelona-El Prat

1. When you buy, ask the shop for the electronic Tax Free form (DIVA) and show your passport or other proof of residence.
2. At the airport, before you check in any bags, go to a DIVA kiosk in the check-in area of T1 or T2. Bring your ID, the receipts, the form, your boarding pass and the goods: without the goods there is no validation.
3. Choose your language and scan the barcode on the form.
4. If the form is accepted, it is validated electronically. No paper stamp is issued; keep the form's CSV code to check its status online with the Agencia Tributaria, Spain's tax agency.
5. If the kiosk asks for further checks, take the documents and the goods to the customs or tax office at the airport; an information desk tells you where it is and when it is open.
6. Once the form is validated, claim the refund from the shop or from an authorised refund operator.

Canary Islands residents

Residents of the Canary Islands settle the IGIC first and then claim the VAT. The goods must leave mainland Spain within three months, and the refund can be requested for up to four years.

Changing planes in another EU country

Where the form is validated depends on your itinerary: if you change planes in another EU country before leaving the EU, ask the shop or the refund operator where your form must be validated. Allowances on arrival and the other customs rules are on the customs page.