'Tourists want souvenirs, not slippers': Historic Barcelona shop closes for good

As Barcelona's Old Town becomes increasingly shaped by souvenir stores and global brands, another long-standing family business is closing for good. La Casa de les Sabatilles will lower its shutters for the last time on August 14.

The shop specializes in house slippers and espardenyes – traditional rope-soled shoes known in English as espadrilles.

Despite years of struggle to keep the business afloat, owner Joan Carles Iglesias says the decision to close was still "very difficult."

"Bear in mind that I inherited this from my parents. It's the result of my father's last 25 years of work, so it has been very, very hard," Iglesias tells Catalan News. 

"But a moment comes when you can't go on suffering, wondering if this year we'll break even or lose money. That can't go on."

For Iglesias, that moment came earlier this year, with the death of his wife, who managed the business with him.

"That ended up tipping the scale that was already leaning heavily toward closure," Iglesias says.

75 years of history

La Casa de les Sabatilles opened in the 1950s on Baixada de la Llibreteria, in the heart of Barcelona's Gothic Quarter. 

Iglesias's father – whose own father owned a shoe store in Reus – took over the business in 1984.

The landlord of the premises changed in 2000, the starting point for years of "all kinds of demands, all kinds of inspections, to try to get us evicted.

While some historic and traditional shops in Barcelona manage to buck the trend – surviving and even thriving – skyrocketing rents and shifting consumer habits continue to push many others out, often replaced by tourism-facing businesses.

For Casa de les Sabatilles, the turning point was 2022.

"We were evicted from that location," Iglesias explains. "From there, we moved to a very small shop nearby, on Carrer Freneria."

The family was optimistic they could make the new location work, still in the heart of the Old Town and just around the corner from the original premises, but there was one major stumbling block.

"It was a small alley and alleys don't have foot traffic, and if there's no foot traffic, there's no sales," Iglesias says. "We had to close."

The next move saw the store relocate out of the Gothic Quarter to Carrer de Sant Pere Més Alt.

"The city council gave us this place, part of a program they have to try to save small shops, but this hasn't worked either, I think fundamentally because this place doesn’t have enough foot traffic. There's not enough people passing by."

As well as the lack of footfall, Iglesias also cites the lack of a large window display – something he says is very important for drawing local consumers in – and changes in mobility habits.

"Getting into the center of Barcelona, especially by private vehicle, is almost an odyssey," he says, explaining this has affected a traditional customer base that lived outside the city and used to come to "go to the doctor, have lunch in the city center, and go shopping."

Old Town theme park

The business has also struggled to compete with online sales, while the growth of tourism in Barcelona hasn't translated into a growth in sales.

"The city, the Old Town and Gothic Quarter, has turned into a kind of PortAventura theme park, and tourists are looking for bargains," Iglesias says. "Tourists aren't looking to buy expensive slippers."  

"They might buy a pair of espardenyes because they find them quirky, but more as a souvenir than something they'll actually wear."

Quality over price

Iglesias says he prioritised quality, Spanish-made products, as they could never compete on price with people selling espadrilles made in Bangladesh.

Ultimately, "there weren't enough sales to keep a shop based on quality going," he says.

The shutters at La Casa de les Sabatilles will come down for the last time on August 14, but Iglesias will be kept busy.  

"I have a little granddaughter, nine months old. She is my top priority, and the most fun one too.