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Student eats · November 2026
Studying abroad in Barcelona
Every meal here costs €10 or less.
About $12 US. Typical prices, checked November 2, 2026.Barcelona students eat at the counter: bombas in Barceloneta, sandwiches in the Gothic Quarter, four-dish bars where nothing costs more than €5. Skip the paella on La Rambla.
A day of eating for €26
- Breakfast, €6: Granja M. Viader, a suís (hot chocolate with whipped cream) and an ensaïmada
- Lunch, €10: La Cova Fumada, two bombas (the potato and meat bomb was invented here) and grilled sardines
- Dinner, €10: Bar La Plata, all four things on the menu: fried fish, tomato salad, anchovies and botifarra
Breakfast, lunch and dinner: €26, about $30.
Eat for €10 or less
€6Breakfast
Granja M. Viader
Get: A suís (hot chocolate with whipped cream) and an ensaïmada
Since 1870, the dairy bar that invented Cacaolat. Marble tables, old photos, and breakfast for a few euros.
2
€10Lunch
La Cova Fumada
Get: Two bombas (the potato and meat bomb was invented here) and grilled sardines
No sign on the door. A family bar since 1944 where fishermen eat at long tables. Lunch only, go early.
3A photo like it
€6Lunch
Conesa Entrepans
Get: A hot entrepà (Catalan sandwich), the one with botifarra
A sandwich shop by Plaça Sant Jaume since 1951, packed with office workers and students at lunch.
4A photo like it
€10Dinner
Bar La Plata
Get: All four things on the menu: fried fish, tomato salad, anchovies and botifarra
Since 1945, a bar that serves only four dishes, each a few euros, with wine from the barrel.
5
€6Late
Can Paixano (La Xampanyeria)
Get: A glass of the house cava and a hot sandwich
A cava bar where it's elbow to elbow, a glass costs about a euro, and the sandwiches come off the grill all night.
6A photo like it
€8Dinner
Bo de B
Get: A huge pita or baguette with the salads
A tiny Gothic Quarter sandwich shop where the line is the review.
The market
Monday to Saturday; books on Sunday mornings
Mercat de Sant Antoni
Sant Antoni
Get: Fruit, cheese and jamón at local prices, plus the Sunday book and comic market around it
La Boqueria is for photos. Sant Antoni and Santa Caterina are where people shop, at lower prices.
The supermarket to find
Mercadona, Bonpreu or Condis
- Mercadona's tortilla de patatas and ready meals
- Jamón and cheese in vacuum packs, very cheap
- Pan con tomate supplies: bread, tomatoes and olive oil
Mercadona is Spain's student supermarket: cheap, everywhere, and its own brand is good.
How students save in Barcelona
- Lunch is the main meal in Spain. The 'menú del día' (two courses, bread, drink) is the best value of the day, around €13 to €15.
- Eat late like locals: dinner at 9pm or after, and nothing feels empty.
- Tap water is fine to drink, and you can ask for it.
More for Barcelona
Studying somewhere else?
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Prices are typical, checked November 2, 2026, and move; places with branches all over (chains) are named so you can use any of them. "A photo like it" is the same kind of food, not from that place. Chef Amazing is not paid by any place on this page.
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