Spain
Barcelona/Madrid world-class; supermarkets excellent; hidden ingredients and regional variance require navigation
Exceptional cities, superb supermarkets — but traditional kitchens keep animal products invisible in dishes that look plant-based on the menu.
Spain ranks #20 globally — that is a country-level score, not a city ranking. Barcelona ranks #6 globally as an individual city on HappyCow, making it one of the best single destinations on earth for vegan food. If Barcelona is your primary stop, your actual experience will be significantly easier than the country rank suggests. The national figure reflects Spain's full spread, including traditional rural regions where plant-based eating remains genuinely difficult.
Spanish supermarkets — Mercadona, Carrefour, and El Corte Inglés in particular — carry excellent vegan ranges and are a reliable daily foundation wherever you are. Always check labels on packaged foods: Spain follows EU allergen legislation, but animal-derived additives such as gelatine, carmine (E120), and lactose appear in products that look plant-based at first glance. Never assume a product is vegan without reading the label.
What's Hiding in the Kitchen
Traditional Spanish cooking uses lard as a foundational fat — not just for frying but for enriching bread doughs, greasing pans, and slow-cooking vegetables. It has no visible presence in a finished dish and is rarely declared on menus. Cocido madrileño, pisto manchego, and many fried potato dishes in traditional establishments are routinely cooked with it.
Stock is the invisible backbone of Spanish cuisine. Paella — including nominally vegetable paella (paella de verduras) — is commonly prepared with chicken or seafood stock. Soups, rice dishes, and sauces in traditional kitchens start from meat or fish bases. The finished dish contains no visible animal pieces, making this one of the most consistent traps in Spain.
Anchovies appear without announcement as a standard tapas topping on salads, bread, and vegetable dishes. Boquerones (white anchovies in vinegar) look like a condiment or garnish. Ensaladilla rusa, pisto, and many pintxos in the Basque Country may include them with no menu indication.
Jamón is culturally central and can appear as a flavour accent rather than a main ingredient — a few thin slices added by default to salads, toast, or warm vegetable plates. In Andalusia and Extremadura especially, this addition is so habitual that kitchen staff may not consider the dish to contain "meat" in the way you mean. The dish habas con jamón (broad beans with ham) is a particular trap for dishes that look vegetable-forward.
Say This in the Restaurant
What Actually Works
Build on supermarkets daily
Mercadona's "Hacendado" own-brand line includes vegan milks, yoghurts, and labelled ready meals. Carrefour and El Corte Inglés both stock dedicated vegan sections with growing ranges. Spanish supermarkets are among the strongest in Europe — make them your daily foundation, particularly outside the major cities.
Order pan con tomate as your safe base
Pan con tomate — bread rubbed with fresh tomato and olive oil — is reliably vegan and appears on almost every menu. Confirm no jamón and ask for it plain (sin embutidos). In Catalonia it is a staple. Add a side of patatas bravas (confirm sauce) or pimientos de padrón for a full meal without negotiation.
Use Barcelona as your anchor city
Barcelona is ranked #6 globally as a city on HappyCow. The Eixample and Gràcia neighbourhoods have exceptional concentrations of dedicated vegan and plant-based restaurants. If your itinerary allows extended time in one city, Barcelona offsets the difficulty of rural days elsewhere in the itinerary.
Use a printed vegan card in traditional restaurants
In restaurants outside major cities, a printed or phone-screen vegan card in Spanish — listing your full exclusion including manteca de cerdo and caldo de carne — significantly improves your success rate. Kitchen staff in traditional restaurants respond well to written Spanish clarity even when verbal explanations hit language barriers.
Where It Gets Harder
Spain's challenges are predictable and avoidable with preparation — but they are consistent enough to warrant active navigation rather than assumption.
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