Shopping on the Camino |

Last month I wrote a series of posts about the things you should and should not pack for your Camino de Santiago. In the last one, “Your packing advice“, I tried to summarise all the suggestions I got from experienced pilgrims. One of my favourites was:

With that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to have one of our mini lessons on shopping on the Camino: shops you might need, what to buy in them and how to ask some basic questions… 

Shops and stuff

• Farmacia (pharmacy) – in a previous post entitled El botiquín I covered the most relevant information about farmacias, as well as the difference between farmacia and parafarmacia and the meaning of farmacia de guardia (you can also listen to the pronunciation of these words there). To sum it up, farmacia is where you can get medicines, with or without prescription, as well as a long list of other items for your personal care.

In a parafarmacia you can find the same stuff as in a farmacia, except for medicines: they sell tiritas and Compeed, creams (sun protection and others), personal hygiene products: from jabón (soap), to shampoo and pasta de dientes (toothpaste)… (check El botiquín for the pronunciation of these words).

Tip: personal care products tend to be cheaper in supermarkets.

• Frutería (greengrocer’s) – you can buy lots of fruta (fruit) and vegetables here. Loose fruit and veg is sold by weight, so the price you see, unless something else is specified, is the price for a kilo. Let’s say you just want an apple or two; no problem! You pick what you want, they will weigh it for you and you pay for what you take.

• Panadería (bakery) – you can buy pan (bread) here, obviously. But you can also get empanada (savoury pie) and empanadilla (small version of empanada). Many panaderías are also pastelerías (cake shop), so you can also get all sorts of sweet pies, cakes and pastries.

• Supermercado (supermarket) – In the bigger supermarkets you can buy all of the above (except for medicines), as well as other things. If you are in a small town with a small supermercado, your options will be more limited but you are still likely to find a bit of everything.

Do you just need a snack? A panadería or frutería  might be all you need. But if you are planning to cook your meals at the albergue or need non-food items, you might want to visit the supermercado.

You should be aware of shops’ opening times. If you are starting your walking day very early in the morning, as most people do, you will find that pretty much everything is closed. So, if you need something for the early morning, your safest bet is to buy it the previous evening.

Also, almost everything is closed on Sundays (not bakeries and cafés) and festivos (public holidays). And during “lunch time”, which is roughly between 13:30-16:30, although it can vary depending on the shop. Again, try to plan your shopping ahead.

And finally, some useful phrases you can use when shopping

• If you can’t find what you need and want to ask if they have it, you can simply say ¿Tienen…? (do you have?) and add the name of the item you are looking for. For instance, you go into a supermercado looking for tiritas, but you can’t find them. You can ask a member of staff ¿Tienen tiritas?

• If you need to ask for something, quería (I’d like) followed by the name of the item you want is what you say. Let’s say you go into a farmacia looking for ibuprofeno. What do you say? Quería ibuprofeno. Easy, right?

• If you want to know the price of an item, you can ask ¿Cuánto cuesta esto? (how much is this?) while pointing at it. You can drop esto if you think it’s not necessary because it’s obvious enough what item you are asking about.

• ¿Cuánto es? (how much is it?) is similar to ¿Cuánto cuesta?, but they are used differently. As I just said, we use ¿cuánto cuesta? to ask about the price of a specific item. However, we use ¿cuánto es? when we finish our shopping, to find out how much the total is.

Are you ready to go shopping on the Camino de Santiago?

Today’s Spanish words

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¡Buen Camino!

Updated February 2026

Getting around on the Camino

When we think about the Camino de Santiago we think walking day after day, maybe cycling or even horse-riding.

What we don’t usually imagine is standing at a train station , waiting for a bus, or navigating an airport. And yet… trains, buses and planes are a very real (and very useful) part of our Caminos.

We’ll need transport at least 3 times:

• To get to Spain, most likely by avión (plane).
• To reach your starting point, the town where you will start your pilgrimage
• To leave Santiago, once your Camino is finished..

And even during your Camino, you might skip a stage, for a number of reasons such as time constraints or an injury.

In those cases, you will probably use a tren (train), an autobús (bus) or even the occasional taxi, which is also conveniently called taxi in Spanish!).

Travelling by train

Trains are a very popular way to move around Spain, especially for long distance trips. With high-speed trains, you can travel between Madrid and Santiago in under 4 hours, which is not possible by bus.

So, let’s go to la estación de tren (you might find it also referred to as estación de ferrocarril, but estación de tren is more common).

• Whether you are travelling by train, bus or plane, your ticket is called billete (by the way, we use the same word for banknotes; 2 meaning, 1 word!)

• If you’re already at the station, you can buy your ticket at the taquilla (ticket office). But be aware that certain trains tend to sell out, so I would advise to buy them in advance. RENFE (Spain’s national train operator) usually releases tickets for same 4-6 weeks in advance, so don’t panic if you’re trying to buy tickets a few months ahead of time and you can’t find them. It’s too early.

• Your billete can be de ida (one way) or de ida y vuelta (return). Before you get on your train, there’s certain information you need to find on your ticket; 2 numbers, to be precise: your car and your asiento (seat). Seats are numbered, so it’s easier to check before you sit down than having to move later on when someone is claiming their seat.

• The information screens at the station will show the vía (track) where your train is stopping.

Discounts for over 60s

If you are travelling by train in Spain and you are over 60, you can get a Tarjeta Dorada (golden card). You can buy it at any train station and it will entitle you to discounts of up to 40% on the price of your tickets.

The Tarjeta Dorada cannot be bought online. You need to buy it in person, as you’ll have to show your passport to prove your age.

The price of the Tarjeta Dorada is €6, and it’s valid for 1 year.  It can be renewed online.

Here’s the link to RENFE’s website with all the information about it (it’s in Spanish): http://www.renfe.com/viajeros/tarifas/tarjeta_dorada.html

Travelling by bus

The full name for a bus is autobús, but you can call it bus for short. That’s what most Spanish people do.

The good news is that a lot of the bus-related vocabulary is the same as the train’s, but not all. So let’s have a look at the changes:

• The estación de tren becomes estación de autobuses. However, buses don’t stop at stations only. In fact, there are no stations in most villages and smaller towns. In those cases, buses stop at paradas (de autobús), also known as bus stops in English. 

• Tickets are still billetes and they can also be bought from a taquilla. In many cases (local buses in particular), you can buy your ticket directly from the conductor (false friend alert! Conductor is the driver, not the English conductor).

• There are many bus companies in Spain. Some, like Alsa, are big and have even international routes (like between Santiago and Porto). If you’re using one of them, you’ll be able to buy your tickets online in advance. But there are also lots of much smaller, local companies. In those cases, buying your ticket in person, either at the station or from the driver, might be your only option.

Travelling by plane

You are very likely to travel by plane either to get to Spain and start your Camino, and to go back home after you have finished your pilgrimage.

So, what do you need to know about Spanish aeropuertos (airports)? The good news: they are very traveller‑friendly, and all signage is also in English.

• When you land in Spain you will be in the llegadas (arrivals) area of the airport. You should easily find your way out. Just follow the signs for the salida (exit). 

• If you are starting your journey from a Spanish airport, you should go to the salidas (departures) area first. You can find both words, salidas and llegadas, in train and bus stations too, on the screens listing all the departures and arrivals.

• If you have luggage to check-in, or need a tarjeta de embarque (boarding pass), look for the the facturación (check-in) counters, 

• If you have your boarding pass and equipaje de mano (hand luggage) only, you can go through security and look for your puerta de embarque (boarding gate).

Transport’s Spanish vocabulary

For accommodation info and Spanish vocabulary, check Where to sleep on the Camino.

 ¡Buen Camino!