Barcelona is one of the fashionable cities on the European scene. In recent years it has become a destination of reference, a fact that has allowed many heterogeneous or imaginative proposals to flourish. The Ciudad Condal is a living municipality, where there are also specialized stores for all types of audiences. Today we want to talk to you about a very special place, a geek pole of attraction that escapes from the most archetypal elements that define the Catalan city: Galeries Maldà , a series of themed shops located in the central street of Portaferrissa. A kind of Catalan Camden Town that will not leave anyone indifferent, and an enclosure that constitutes by itself a new thematic route that joins other already existing ones.
Its formula for success is based on two key principles : on the one hand, the great specialization of its stores, and on the other, its spatial distribution. The shops are very close to each other in the physical space and that causes a plot line to be generated. Lovers of cinema and the great audiovisual franchises of our era, come to the Maldà galleries as an area where they can find products related to their favorite fictions.
10 years ago, this shopping center was a practically abandoned space, an area that did not know how to properly manage the advance of time and that progressively allowed itself to die. Faced with this situation, Rubén Sánchez, founder of «Reino de Juguetes», saw the possibility of converting this gloomy place into a kind of temple for geeks. The first themed store to open was one focused on the Harry Potter universe. The film franchise has a legion of devoted fans in our country, staunch Potterheads who want to buy all kinds of products related to the work of JK Rowling.
The success was such that there are currently three stores focused on the story of the young magician. One dedicated to jewelry, a second with textile pieces and another that offers all kinds of imaginative gifts.
Faced with this situation, there were other establishments that wanted to take advantage of the slipstream, and currently we already find more than a dozen. For example, in Mathom we can find all kinds of table games: from modern Catan to an infinity of different decks of playing cards to practice blackjack .
We also find stores focused on other mythical sagas, such as the popular manga Dragon Ball , a series created by Akira Toriyama that marked a milestone in Japanese drawing. The name sure will ring a bell to fans: KameHame Shop.
If you followed the Game of Thrones series, the Maldà galleries are also a must-see. In Thronestore BCN they have all kinds of licensed products. Swords, cups, pendants … there is even a replica of the mythical throne with which the action of the work adapted by HBO was related.
Another curious store is Funko Barcelona . His proposal is very simple: try to offer as many figures as possible related to the brand. If you have visited a gift shop lately, surely you have seen these miniatures on display. They are caricatures with very large heads that use a common pattern to represent all kinds of characters and public figures. In this place you can find an almost infinite variety.
There are also other stores focused on fantastic tailoring. One of the most striking is Uchronic Time , where you can buy garments related to the Steampunk universe. Nearby is also the Royal Sewing Box, where you can order garments related to fantasy and the medieval world. There are offers for all audiences.
Finally, we could not finish our tour without mentioning one of the stores focused on one of the most prolific sagas in history: Star Wars. How could it be otherwise, we also find a trade that orbits the universe created by George Lucas.
Les Galeries Maldà show that to succeed you need a good idea, be authentic and offer customers what they demand the most. If you like some of the fictions that we have previously mentioned, or if you are curious people, walking through this old commercial center is quite an experience. A way to discover another Barcelona that tries to bring us quality, authentic and specialized products that were previously impossible to acquire. An amalgam of shops that fit together perfectly and emulate the typical modernist mosaics of the Catalan capital.