Category Archives: Shopping

Beverages, Food/Wine, Guided Tours, Nature, Shopping

Visit a vineyard and wine tasting in Ronda

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Shopping

Shopping in Ronda

Ronda is a small city, some unkindly say it’s stuck in the 20th century from a retail point of view, but those of us who choose to make Ronda our home like it this way. Indulge in a touch of nostalgia and do some window shopping on La Bola, perhaps interrupting your walk for a café con leche y palmera and remember what it must have been like at the beginning of the 20th century.

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Expat Guide, Shopping

Online Shopping from the UK for Spain Residents.

We frequently hear from expat women living in Spain that shopping can be difficult, Spanish sizes just aren’t the same as UK sizes, or Northern European ladies aren’t the same shape as Mediterranean women, or perhaps a particular brand is desired and not available in Spain.

In Ronda and other small towns most shopping is limited to small family owned fashion stores, Spanish high street brands such as Zara, or to foreign brands that tailor their range to Spanish sizes. Typically this means that plus sized ladies often struggle to dress fashionably without either visiting Marks and Spencer or BHS on the coast or Gibraltar.

However, it is possible to shop online using a debit or credit card, and in some cases a Paypal account, and have items shipped to Spain to your home address. Most retailers also offer free or cheap delivery if orders exceed a minimum amount, and if shopping for the season or several people in the family, this can amount to paying not much more than visiting a UK high street store and all without the cost of a ticket back home.

We’ve excluded online shopping portals such as Amazon, eBay, Pixmania etc because these companies operate in Spain. If you know of any other UK-based online retailers who deliver to Spain that aren’t included in our list, please let us know.

All information below is accurate as at May 2012. Delivery costs quoted may change in time.

Childrens Clothing
Adams operate an online store with a full selection of clothing, books, toys, swimwear, and baby items. Standard delivery to Spain takes upto 8 working days and is free if order exceeds £50 otherwise £4.99. Payment via card, Paypal, or Amazon payments.

The Kids Window operate a large site covering the majority of their product range priced in Euros in the international site. Spain residents need to click the “Outside UK?” link at the bottom of the page and then select Europe from the options. Delivery charges start from €6.50 with items dispatched in 24 hours. Payment with all major credit cards.

Mothercare‘s website is extensive and offers children’s clothing, footwear, pushchairs, cots, car seats, and maternity wear, and they offer to deliver to Spain from their UK website. Couriers are used so fees start from £14.95 and will be delivered in 3-7 working days. All major credit cards are accepted.

Fashion Clothing
Wallis (womenswear) website offers the complete range of instore items, including blouses, pants, jackets, dresses, skirts, accessories, petite clothing, and shoes. Standard delivery to Spain is £5 or free if order is over £75. Payment by Wallis card, major credit cards, and Paypal.

Topshop offers women’s clothing, shoes, accessories, and make-up on their website. Standard delivery to Spain is £5 or free if order is over £75. Payment by Topshop card, major credit cards, and Paypal.

Dorothy Perkins website covers their entire range of women’s clothing, collections, shoes, accessories, and the magazine. Standard delivery to Spain is £5 or free if order is over £75. Payment by Dorothy Perkins card, major credit cards, and Paypal.

Evans Plus Size online shopping is for women sized 14-32, and includes cothing, lingerie, shoes, and accessories. Standard delivery to Spain is £5 or free if order is over £75. Payment by Evans card, major credit cards, and Paypal.

Miss Selfridge have their complete women’s store online including clothing, accessories, shoes, petites, collections, and going out items. Standard delivery to Spain is £5 or free if order is over £60. Payment by Miss Selfridge card, major credit cards, and Paypal.

Monsoon carry an extensive range of womens clothes and shoes, weddings, children, and mens clothing, as well as accessories. Delivery to Spain costs £3.95 taking 4-7 days. Payment is by major credit card.

Topman men’s fashion provide an extensive range of clothing, shoes, suits, and accessories. Standard delivery to Spain is £5. Payment by Topman card, or major credit cards.

Shoes
Jones Bootmaker offer their range of brand-name shoes including the ever popular Timberland, Birkenstock, Geox, Gabor, Hush Puppies, Sketchers and more online. Delivery to Spain is by Royal Mail and starts at £17.50. Payment by major credit card.

Department Stores
Debenhams, every item on the Debenhams website can be delivered to Spain, with delivery fees starting at £7 and taking 5-6 days. Payment by Debenhams card, and all major credit cards.

Harrods website covers fashion and clothing, shoes, sport, food and wine, and gift hampers. Delivery costs to Spain start from £20 and expect 5-6 days. Payment can be made with a Harrods charge card, and major credit cards. Harrods gift certificates cannot be used in their online shop.

House of Fraser claim to have over 1000 brands catalogued in their online shopping website, including beauty, clothing, shoes, handbags, furniture, electrical, and more. Standard delivery to Spain starts at £6 and takes upto 8 days t deliver. An express service delivered in 3 days starts at £10. Payment via House of Fraser store card, and major credit cards.

Marks and Spencer have stores in Spain, but their complete product range is available from their UK website such as clothing, lingerie, home and furniture, technology, food, and gifts. Delivery charges start at £7.50 with arrival in 6-9 days. Payment by Marks and Spencer cards or gift certificate and major credit cards.

John Lewis have a very large website, covering home and garden, electrical, clothing, beauty, babies and children, toys, and sport. They deliver to peninsula Spain (sorry, no islands) with fees starting at &pound7.50; and between 4 to 7 days to receive the package. Payment by John Lewis card, major credit cards, and Paypal.

Littlewoods have put almost their entire catalog online, including mens and womens fashion, child and baby, sporting goods, home and garden, electrical, entertainment, jewellery, beauty, and toys. Delivery fees are quoted as £5, with occasional free delivery over &pound30; and taking upto 8 days. Payment by major credit cards and Paypal.

Next have their catalog online, but it’s necessary to change location to Spain to see which items are available to delivery amongst clothing, shoes, accessories, sports, and homeware. Delivery is currently free, taking 3 working days via DHL. Payment by credit card.

Shopping

Herbolario Santa Clara – Health shop Santa Clara

Just over a year ago Eleonora Barrios opened a new health shop here in Ronda, aiming to provide an extensive range of products and also to offer various alternative therapies such as kineseology and massage. Eleonora is extremely knowlegeable about different therapies, health supplements and can therefore offer good advice on which products could be suitable for you.

Kineseology is available by appointment Mondays to Fridays from 10a.m to 2p.m and then again from 5p.m to 8.30pm. Saturdays is dedicated to massage such as reflexology and shiatzu, although it is possible to fit these in during the week but you have to arrange this by appointment, as it depends on availability.

The shop is extremely well stocked and offers a wide range of organic products, with a fridge for perishable items and also a wide range of dry goods, catering for many types of specialist diets. Eleonora is also more than happy to order in specialist products, if she doesnt already stock what youre looking for. Herbs and spices can be bought by weight, or ready packaged and there is a wide range in Flores de Bach, essential oils and natural cosmetics, including the exclusive Alquimia range of organic cosmetics. There is also a line for babies, mainly featuring the German makes of Hipp and Holle.

The shop is centrally located on the Calle Maria Soubiron which is directly opposite the entrance to the Alameda park on the Calle Jerez. Or you can approach it from the Plaza del Socorro. Telephone  Eleonora on 952 19 08 71

Opening hours: 10a.m-2 p.m  5 p.m-8p.m

Shopping

Tony Zapatero, the Best Shoe Repairer in Ronda

It sounds like a cliche or marketing blurb to say it, but when you need shoes repaired, Tony Zapatero really is the best in Ronda, and the friendliest too, his large frame fills the store, and his gentle giant smile immediately disarms you, jokes and laughs are shared.

Located at Calle Sevilla 42, Ronda’s second shopping street, Tony’s shop doesn’t immediately strike you as being a place where shoes are repaired, the window is filled with suitcases and handbags, but look to the right of the door and you’ll see where Tony’s heart lies; you should see a stone carving embedded in the wall featuring a cobbler making shoes.

Tony is proud of his profession, and scattered around the shop you’ll see several statuettes of cobblers hard at work, but Tony explains that making shoes to order is a hard business and the demand just isn’t there anymore. However, like any true professional, Tony still has all the equipment needed, so you know he can repair just about any fault, from heels and soles, to new buckles, studs and clasps, he can even stitch leather.

Along with his wife, Tony Zapatero also mends clothes, they don’t just lift the hem on trousers, they can also adjust sleeves, the length of shirts, fix buttons and zips, and for a very affordable price too, in fact as much as half the price you might pay in the UK. The quality of workmanship isn’t cheap, Tony simply has less operating expenses than his contemporaries in Northern Europe.

Standing at Tony’s shop counter you can’t help notice the range of products he carries, a huge supply of blank keys waiting to be cut, replacement garage door and electric gate remotes, leather products from Ubrique, top name shoe shine brands, spare shoe laces, ladies handbags, watch batteries, and the huge selection of affordable suitcases.

The day I visited Tony’s shop I went with a friend who knows her handbags and luggage, well, it was lucky for her she’d left her purse in the office and only met me for a coffee, I’m certain her credit card would have taken a beating, and as for me, well I’m in need of a new black leather belt, but luckily for me my friend kept cooing over the handbags and asking my opinion.

Brand name items are stocked in Tony’s shop, in fact Tony takes a great deal of pride in sourcing quality items for his customers, for example shoe polish is supplied from the UK and Germany, Tony explains “If you want the brightest shine and best protection for your shoes, you need the best product”.

Address/Locale c/ Sevilla, 42
Ronda, 29400
Telf (+34) 952 87 43 33
Email [email protected]
Web www.tonyzapatero.com

Photos in Tony Zapatero’s Shop in Ronda