All Lost in the Supermarket

When we moved to Spain, we expected there to be challenges, like the language barrier and the bureaucracy. We also expected some things to be interesting and different – the people, the culture, the history and so on. What we didn’t expect was to find those challenges and quirks combined in the supermarkets.

On the surface, the supermarkets in Spain seem simple. There are multiple chains here, and they all look a lot like supermarkets anywhere else in the world. But when you dig a little, things get interesting. Let’s use Carrefour as an example. Carrefour is a French supermarket chain with a presence in most major Spanish cities and towns. These are usually superstores, where you can buy a wide range of goods in addition to typical supermarket fare, like TVs and appliances, hardware, and clothing. A bit like Fred Meyer in Portland.

We first encountered Carrefour on our scouting vacation to Spain two years ago, and it wasn’t an auspicious start. Kim set off a security alarm by using the wrong exit, and I got yelled at by the cashier because I didn’t get my produce weighed and tagged before coming to the checkout. Yes, that’s right – you have to find someone to weigh, tag, and seal your produce before you head to the checkout. Obvious, right?

By far the most interesting part is the merchandising setup. It’s practically impossible to figure out where things will be. You just have to keep searching aisles and hope for the best. Here are some examples. Yerba Mate tea bags are in the international foods section, not the tea section (which contains other international tea varieties). Fresh bakery and eggs are in the produce section. And tomato products (pasta sauce, diced tomatoes, etc.) are scattered all over the store.

Our favorite example came up recently. We wanted to buy new pillows, and we figured Carrefour would have them. We started in the household linen section and searched high and low, but we couldn’t find them anywhere. Eventually we gave up and went to a specialist bedding store just to buy pillows. Then, a few days later, we found pillows at Carrefour. Outside, in the garden section.

It’s a running joke for us now: “We need bug spray.” “That’s probably with the condiments.” “We’re low on candles. “Take a look by the fresh fish.” And Carrefour isn’t the only offender. The Aldi across the street has clothing in the frozen food aisle and footwear with the dairy. We almost always have items on our shopping list that carry over for weeks at a time because inevitably, we can’t find the item or don’t know what to call it or how to describe it well in Spanish. It’s prompted a Marie Kondo-like approach to shopping: if you can’t find an item at the store after a month, do you really need it?

There are other quirks too. Carrefour sells refillable gas fire lighters, but not the refills (or maybe they do – we haven’t checked the garden section yet). Most of the milk is UHT so if you want fresh milk it's in a tiny little section at the end of the baby supplies. And yet, they have a LOT of some things – like almost a full aisle of yoghurt. And check out this picture of the ham section:

There’s a lot to like about the supermarkets here. The quality of the produce is head and shoulders above what you get in American stores. Everything is really cheap, especially when it comes to essentials like wine – our go-to white costs a little over 3 Euros a bottle. And the staff are all super nice (provided you remember to get your produce bagged, of course). But it does mean each trip to the store is a little adventure. And we came here for adventure, after all. We just weren’t expecting to find it at Carrefour.