How to buy olive oil in Spain

If you have a chance to taste several oils and choose one you like, or to buy direct from the producer, then those would be the times that I would be most likely to purchase. I'm sure you'll have many opportunities. One olive oil tasting that I particularly enjoyed was this half-day excursion from Granada: https://oliveoiltour.com/.

Remember that liquid is heavy and must go in checked luggage. And most US cities have a good selection, these days. Oil in cans is both lighter weight and better protected from sunlight than is oil in glass bottles.

The disputes between countries about which of them is best is mostly marketing. But it does happen that people buy olives from elsewhere and just say "bottled in Spain," etc. A specialty shop will happily point out these terms.

I agree with Laura, these days it's not necessary to carry a heavy bottle/can of olive oil back home when you have options to buy good quality olive oil in the US, be via online shops, be in stores across some cities in the country. Some online shops based in the US (http://www.despanabrandfoods.com/, https://www.tienda.com, http://www.tiendadelicias.com/, http://www.carmenandlola.com/ or even http://www.igourmet.com/spanishfood.asp among many others) have a decent selection of olive oils. I can understand of course the allure to purchasing "on-site" at the horse's mouth so to speak, but again, then you have to carry it back in your luggage. Price-wise the above option might be a tad more expensive than purchasing at the source of course, but it is worth the hassle of transporting it?

Another important point is "which olive oil"?... we Catalans (and Spanish too) use olive oil as cooking oil, for salads, to fry... for everything -much like you use other types of oils in the US for "daily use": palm, coconut... and most importantly corn and sunflower. For this reason, you can purchase good virgin olive oils in ANY food store or supermarket for less than 5 euros per litre. But these are not of course as good as the high-end quality oils which are more expensive (in our supermarkets), say from 10 to 20 euros; and then the super top-of-the-best limited production blah, blah which can run into more than 100€ in our stores -and we're the producers, for God sake! We use those scarcely, much like a Scotsman drinking a fine old malt whisky.

So my point is, which range of olive oil are you looking for? if it's one of the top ones then by all means, purchase it here, firstly because you'll save a lot of money and secondly because that's not necessarily the 'average' Spanish virgin olive oil you'll find in most US shops importing Spanish products.

For those interested, this is a good and educative page about olive oil: https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil

Crash course on olive oils

It's important to note that an expensive oil is not necessarily the best oil... that'll depend on the use you make of it. An oil to cook should have different characteristics from an oil to dress a salad, or to soak a loaf for example. Oils are categorised depending on different factors: Variety of olive used, Location and soil conditions where the olives were grown, Environmental factors and weather during the growing season, Olive ripeness, Timing of the harvest, Harvesting method, Length of time between the harvest and pressing, Pressing technique and Packaging and storage methods.

There are three basic grades of edible olive oil and several types within each grade. Extra virgin includes "premium extra virgin" and "extra-virgin"; virgin comprises "fine virgin," "virgin," and "semifine virgin"; and olive oil includes what used to be called "pure olive oil" and "refined oil." All types of extra-virgin and virgin oils are made from the first pressing of the olives, which removes about 90 percent of the olives' juice. Chemicals and high heat are not allowed in the production of extra-virgin or virgin oils -- no further processing or refining occurs after the pressing process. Neither extra-virgin nor virgin oils are allowed to contain any refined olive oil.

Furthermore, each oil has a level of acidity, in most supermarkets, you'll find anything from 0.2% -which tastes lighter and looks paler- to 1.5% -which is much strong in taste and much deep in colour. As a general rule of thumb, acidity above 0.8% shouldn't be heated -thus not really appropriate for cooking or frying- among other things because it releases a very strong odour and also because you're losing many of the properties of the oil -for which you handsomely pay the premium and virgin ones! Above 0.8% you're likely to use for salads and other dressings.

Given that the price difference for a 'regular' premium extra virgin and an extra virgin is relatively modest (in our supermarkets), many consumers tend to stick to this high range of grades for most uses, sometimes buying a refined oil only for deep frying.

All of the above applies if you're buying a "regular" oil, meaning like most local consumers do for "daily uses". If you're entering into the realm of very high-end olive oils because you don't have the chance to purchase them at home, then this is a whole other ball game. Firstly, the range of exclusive limited collections is quite amazing -there are literally hundreds of small producers, especially here in Catalonia- and secondly, much like when buying a fine wine, there's a very thin line separating a wine that's worth its price and the price you pay for a wine because where it's from, who's the producer, in which top-end cheffy restaurants is being served or in how many competitions has it won awards. I think you get where I'm going, right?

Note that, as in any other product, there are also lower-quality olive oils -this means they're perfectly 'adequate' products from a health point of view, but you're probably overpaying for them as they're not virgin or extra virgin, if you catch my drift.

So, in short, when in Barcelona, for a good olive oil -maybe slightly above what one would use for daily use- head to the supermarket of El Corte Ingles department store in Plaça Catalunya for example and you'll have a good choice. For a top of the range oil, yet within reasonable cost, visit specialised olive oil stores, such as Oro Liquido in Carrer de la Palla, 7 -in the Old City- or Oli Sal in Travessera de Gràcia, 149 or La Chinata in Carrer dels Àngels, 20 among other. For God Sake, you're visiting Catalonia, make me proud and demand Catalan olive oils!

Btw, did you know there are also a range of olive oil cosmetics?.... http://www.stylecraze.com/articles/amazing-benefits-of-olive-oil-that-you-never-knew/
You'll find a small range in both Oro Liquido and La Chinata.

Enjoy!

PS. Excuse innacuracies in the text, I'm just trying to give a overall idea so I'm generalising and not entering into details, which among regular consumers do generate sometimes heated debates, LOL!

Ah yes, I forgot... anyone for an "olive oil" tour to producers in the Catalan countryside?

http://www.catalunya.com/what-to-do/savour/olive-oil-tourism-a-new-way-to-taste-catalonia

Thank you for your replies Laura and Enric for the crash course on olive oil. Is the Santa Caterina Market a good place to get olive oil?

Not particularly... most fresh food markets sell mostly, well, fresh food... :))
I don't recall whether it can be a specific stall selling bottled/canned olive oil, but certainly not in bulk. Actually, I believe the current regulations on Health and Safety wouldn't allow that, bulk selling of liquids (wine being an exception).

I was about to vouch for you to buy and bring back some of the best olive oil I had in Spain last year. The brand is called Venta del Barron and comes from Cordoba. But guess what? Amazon sells it! I can scratch that off my to-do list when I go back to Spain in a month :-).