Myself and Mos recently spent 10 days in the south of Spain where we attended the wedding of our good friends Conor & Sinead in Nerja. They looked after me very well at the wedding, even making sure I had a gluten free cupcake for dessert!

We also visited Seville and Marbella during our travels. Spain is a fantastic place for coeliacs. The general knowledge about the disease is very good and I rarely ran in to any issues when eating out. Most restaurants in these areas don’t have gluten free menus but the places I visited understood the condition and were able to give me options.

It definitely helps to have the cupla focal, which I have myself from two beginners courses in the Instituto Cervantes in Dublin. You can also get an eating out card from the Coeliac Society to bring with you.

Some phrases that will help you on a daily basis:

Soy Celiaca (I’m a coeliac)

Necisito comida sin gluten y sin harina (I need gluten free and flour free food)

Donde están los banos! (Where are the bathrooms?)

Just saying Gracias and por favor will always go a long way aswell.

The supermarkets in Spain are generally well stocked with GF goodies. I visited branches of Diá, Supersol and Mercadona and found Mercadona to be the best. They always had a good selection of bread, biscuits and crackers. I have previously visited Carrefour in Barcelona and they have a great range too. Dia and Supersol tended to only have a few basics.

These little sweet, brioche style rolls were lovely with a cafe con leche of a mornin, I bought them in Mercadona.

 

 

Aside from the GF products, Spanish food manufacturers are very up to speed and you will see ‘ SIN GLUTEN (without gluten)’ on the majority of products that are gluten free. For example, I was always able to find ham, cheese, yoghurts, guacamole, crisps and ice cream with the labelling. They even have the gluten free ice creams from the freezer labelled on the boards outside shops, very handy when you’re soaking up the sun on the beach and you fancy a treat!

One little perk about being a tourist in Spain is being able to have a burger in McDonalds. I was never a massive fan of MCD’s before I was diagnosed but this is very handy particularly when you’re on the move. I’ve ordered a Big Mac ‘con pan sin gluten (with gluten free bread)’ in branches in Seville and Barcelona with no issues. There is usually a little sign on door on the way in confirming coeliac bread is available. Look at this monster!

 

I’ve listed some places I ate in Spain that I felt understood the condition and I had no ill effects from below.

Nerja

 La Braseria

Restaurant 34

39 Bistro  – Provide GF pasta

 

Seville

Al Solito Posto  – Gluten free menu available including pasta and empanadas

 

Mordisco tapas – Gluten Free Items marked on the menu, beautiful tapas of a very high quality, the beef with Gaucha sauce was amazin. It’s probably better to visit in the evening as it was very quiet during the day. A yummy risotto tapa we tried is pictured below.

 

 

Marbella

The Orange Tree, Orange Sq –  GF bread provided

Bistro Paloma, Orange Sq –  GF bread provided

Top Thai, Puerto Banus– Knowledgeable with a small number of options on the menu but food was lovely

 

Malaga airport

Options crap as usual for airports, except for this nifty vending machine I spotted in the departures lounge

 

Enjoy your travels in Spain!