Sorry for the inconvenience, foreign visitors, and I know that you find it unbelievable, but it’s true, stores close in Spain de dos a cinco aproximadamente (from 2 to 5 aproximately). The only places you’ll find open during these precious hours will be grandes almacenes (departmemt stores), supermercados (supermarkets) and fruterías de dueños inmigrantes (fruit stores owned by immigrants).
In my own cultural interpretation of this fact, I’d say that Spaniards value el descanso (rest). I wouldn’t throw the famous siesta (nap) in the mix immediately because only a portion of the population hace la siesta (take a nap) - probably store workers. (I’m not going to discuss the wonders of la siesta here. It deserves a full post).
When visiting Madrid, Barcelona, Toledo or Bilbao, plan accordingly. If you want to go de compras (shopping), visit first to las tiendas de ropa or boutiques (clothing stores), las joyerías (jewelry stores), las perfumerías (perfume stores), las librerías (book stores), las tiendas de regalos (gift stores), las ferreterías (hardware stores) or las farmacias (drugstores), and leave El Corte Inglés (the most important department store), Mercadona (the biggest supermarket chain), Zara or Mango (boutiques without midday closing) for the 2 to 5 gap. Or even better, after lunch go back to your hotel and take a nap. You’ll see how your energy comes back, you will avoid having negative thoughts about los españoles y sus horarios (Spaniards and their schedules), and, to boot, you’ll save money.
To learn some handy shopping expressions like ir de escaparates (to window shop) go to Advanced Unit 1 of our Spanish Language Lab. You’ll find vocabulary lists such as this one which you can use to study vocabulary related to shopping.
