Gluten Free in Spain

Ahhh Spain, lovely Spain. The weather’s (mostly) good, landscapes varied, and gluten free food is abundant.

Celiac disease is well known, and there are some good government and third-party resources to help with eating out gluten free. With a bit of care, you can easily travel in Spain and successfully avoid gluten.

Key Points

• High Celiac Awareness: Spain is highly aware of Celiac Disease (Celíaco), making it one of the easier countries in Europe to navigate, especially in major cities.
• FACE Certification: For the safest dining, look for the FACE (Federación de Asociaciones de Celíacos de España) certified restaurants using their mobile app.
• Supermarket Giants: Grocery shopping is reliable, with Dia, Carrefour, and Alcampo offering the most extensive selection of GF substitute items.
• Naturally GF Cuisine: Many famous Spanish national dishes, including Paella, Tortilla Española, and Patatas Bravas, are naturally gluten-free (but always confirm preparation).
• GF Beer Everywhere: You will reliably find gluten-free beer (Estrella GF, Mahou GF) in both supermarkets and restaurants across the country.

Contents

• Personal Experience
• Gluten Awareness
• Groceries
• Eating Out
• Words to Remember
• Conclusions
• FAQs

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Personal Experience

I’ve been to Spain 6 times over the last 5 years; twice on cycle touring trips, twice on hiking trips, once for a running race, and again for an impromptu weekend holiday. The cycling trips took us through the northern regions, from Santander across to Barcelona. One hiking trip was through the Pyrenees, and the other down near Malaga.

Eating gluten-free was easy throughout each trip. Meals were a combination of eating out, cooking in an apartment kitchen, and cooking on the camp stove. Sourcing gluten free supplies from the supermarkets was possible most days. The only time I got glutened was when eating at a buffet. All other times when eating out I had no problem, although I did typically consult Find Me Gluten Free beforehand.

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Gluten Awareness

Spain is one of the more gluten-aware countries in Europe. It follows the EU’s strict regulations on gluten-free labelling, meaning any packaged product that tests below 20ppm can display the crossed-grain symbol or the wording “sin gluten”. You’ll see this widely in supermarkets, pharmacies, and even small convenience stores.

Public awareness is also generally high. Most people recognise the words “celíaco” (celiac) and “sin gluten”, especially in cities and tourist regions. In restaurants, you’ll usually be understood immediately, and many servers know the basics of cross-contamination.

FACE

The Federación de Asociaciones de Celíacos de España has a lot of material to help celiacs, both tourists and residents. They have an ‘eat out’ program in which restaurants can be certified safe for celiacs. These restaurants can don the FACE certified sin gluten symbol on their entrance and website. All registered restaurants can be found on the FACE mobile app. [1]

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Groceries

We found gluten free substitute items to be widely available. Even the small supermarkets in rural areas reliably sold gluten free bread, pasta, flour, and biscuits. Travelling through the country by bicycle, we were able to consistently keep a supply of gluten free bread, pasta and biscuits in our panniers. It made for an easy life.

Supermarket Chains

Most supermarkets reliably hold gluten free substitute items. The bigger supermarkets have a dedicated gluten free section (these are often huge), while smaller local supermarkets typically integrate the gluten free items in with the regular items.

Lidl, Aldi and Condis do not consistently supply gluten free items. You may find GF pasta but will be hard pressed to find any other essentials.

Supermarket	Reliability for GF Essentials	GF House-Brand / Brand Availability	Where to Look Inside Store	Typical GF Finds
Mercadona	Good–Excellent (in cities / large stores)	Hacendado Sin Gluten, some other GF-branded items	Mixed — items scattered among regular shelves	GF pasta, cereals, snacks, biscuits/ cookies, sometimes frozen GF meals or bakery substitutes
Eroski	Excellent	Eroski Sin Gluten + other GF brands	Typically a dedicated “free-from / sin gluten” section	Bread substitutes, pasta, biscuits/cakes, frozen GF meals, snacks
Alcampo	Very Good–Excellent (especially in large hypermarkets)	Store GF lines + common GF brands	Usually a dedicated GF aisle in bigger stores	Bread or substitutes if available, pasta, snacks, frozen meals, GF flours
Carrefour	Very Good–Excellent in hypermarkets	“Carrefour No Gluten!” lines + other GF brands	Dedicated “sin gluten / free-from” aisles in larger stores	Bread substitutes, GF pasta, biscuits/cakes, frozen GF meals/pizzas, snacks
Día	Fair–Good (varies a lot by branch)	Limited GF selection (some imported or local brands)	Small “free-from / sin gluten” shelf/section in many stores	Basic staples (sometimes pasta, biscuits, snacks); GF bread, meals not guaranteed
Lidl / Aldi (discount chains)	Low–Unreliable	Very limited GF-labelled items (mostly occasional snacks)	No dedicated GF section; scattered items	Possibly snacks or biscuits/cookies; pasta/bread/ready meals rare

Bread

We are big fans of the Bimbo gluten free bread. Unlike most gluten free bread brands, it’s not as dry as the Sahara Desert and doesn’t fall apart at the first touch. I’m not being paid to say this. Bimbo is best!

Choco Pillows – The Second Love in My Life

Everywhere we went, we were able to find bags of “choco pillow sin gluten” cereal – crispy choco maize based shells filled with a chocolate hazelnut paste. They’re amazing, I still miss them. These were our go-to snack while we cycled across the country, they kept us turning the cranks all day.

Tortillas

After a quick and easy meal? Grab a premade “Tortilla de Patatas” from your local supermarket. They’re always gluten and dairy free and just need to be fried off for a couple of minutes. We used to add sliced tomato, avocado or cucumber on top.

Emergency Backup Meal

While cycling across the country, we carried a “just add water and cook” paella mix in our panniers as a backup meal for in case we ran out of food. We bought it in a Mercadona, and it turned out to be a great meal for if we were just feeling lazy.

Gluten Free Beer

Gluten free beer is everywhere. You’ll typically find bottles of the Estrella GF or Mahou GF in most restaurants and bars. If you’re lucky, they might even have a GF beer on tap. The Free Damn – GF and AF beer is also widely available.

We came across 5 GF brands in supermarkets, all lagers: Estrella, Daura Damm, Mahou, Ambar, and Ramblers. They’re all quite similar and good prices.

All these beers conform to the European <20ppm rules, meaning they’re gluten reduced rather than gluten free. If you’re a celiac, I’m sure you’ve tried gluten reduced beers and know if you react or not. Personally, I don’t react and happily drink them. I know some die-hard celiacs would advise against this, so make your own decision.

In cities we came across some craft beer bars that had homebrewed gluten free beers on tap, such as Garage Beer Co In Barcelona. I’d take the gluten free label with a pinch of salt, I’m not sure the gluten content of the homebrewed beers is actually tested.

Local Stores (Non-Chains)

In local stores, the selection is more limited. We found that pasta was always available, but essentials like bread and biscuits a little harder to come by.

In the southern small towns, often the only available GF pasta was made with chickpeas. It has an acquired taste and a terrible texture. I really regretted buying 5 days’ worth of it.

Dedicated Gluten Free Shops

You’ll find dedicated gluten free shops and bakeries in most major cities. I find the bakeries to be relatively expensive, but so totally worth it. The bread and cakes are infinitely better than what you can buy in the supermarkets. Google or the Find Me Gluten Free app is the best way to find them.

Street Markets

Local street markets happen on certain days of the week. We rarely found ourself in a town at the right day and time to actually visit one. However, Annie spent 3 months working in Menorca, and when she had a day off on market day she’d get amazing fresh produce at brilliant prices.

So have a search for when market day is and if you can, we definately recommend going.

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Eating Out

Most menus contain at least one gluten free item. The majority contains multiple. Every waiter and chef I met knew what gluten is, they’re used to being asked the gluten questions, and were aware of cross contamination. This was true for restaurants that were not FACE approved also (I’ll be honest and say I didn’t know about FACE until researching this article).

I felt in safe hands while eating out.

Many of the nation’s famous dishes are naturally gluten free so as a celiac you don’t have to miss out on the local cuisine. This is a massive win, I find the local cuisine makes up a significant part of a countries culture and it sucks when you can’t experience it because it all contains gluten.

As mentioned earlier, for the safest eating out experience as a celiac, visit a FACE registered restaurant. Find Me Gluten Free is also widely used throughout Spain.

Throughout Spain you’ll find restaurants offering el menu del dia – a well priced three course meal, typically served at lunch time. At best, you’ll get three options for each course, but in most places, it is a set menu and complete luck whether it’s gluten free or not

Naturally Gluten Free National Dishes

• Paella - all types: Valenciana, mixta, seafood
• Tortilla Española
• Fabada Asturiana (check with server) - Bean stew with morcilla, chorizo, pork
• Pulpo a la Gallega - Galician octopus
• Huevos Rotos / Huevos Estrellados - Fried potatoes + eggs + fillings.
• Pisto - Spain’s ratatouille: tomatoes, peppers, courgettes.
• Escalivada - Roasted veg (aubergine, peppers, tomatoes).
• Almejas a la Marinera - Clams in wine and parsley.
• Tapas:
  • Patas bravas
  • Gambas al Ajillo
  • Pimientos de Padron (Fried non-spicy chillis, they’re brilliant)
  • Jamón Ibérico / Serrano
  • Chorizo, Lomo, Salchichón

Glutenous National Dishes

• Gazpacho – Usually thickened with stale bread
• Empanadillas
• Pescaito Frito – battered fried fish
• Cañas / Bartolillos / Ensaimadas - pastries
• Tapas:
  • Calamari ☹
  • Croquetas
  • Albondigas (meatballs) – usually made with breadcrubs
  • Tortillitas de Camarones (shrimp fritters) – traditionally made with chickpea flour, often made with wheat flour.
  • Migas – literally fried breadcrumbs

Non-traditional Gluten Free Cuisine

• Arepas – Usually found in areperias or Venezuelan restaurants
• Tacos – Many Mexican restaurants do the real maize-flour soft shell tacos

Restaurant Chains

Chains such as 100 Montaditos, VIPS, McDonald’s, Burger King, and most major pizza chains offer gluten-free options with dedicated preparation areas. McDonalds sell gluten free buns, and even a gluten free beer.

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Words to Remember

In the cities, English is widely spoken. However, in the rural areas, this is not the case, and knowing some phrases in Spanish is useful. As always, I recommend that you take a translated gluten-free card with you as a backup, and downloading the google translate app as a last resort.

Some useful words and phrases include:

English	Spanish
Without	Sin
Gluten free	Sin gluten
Flour	Harina
Wheat	Trigo
Barley	Cebada
Oats	Avena
Suitable for celiacs	Apta para celiacos
Could contain traces of gluten	Puede contener trazas de gluten

Useful phrases for eating out:

English	Spanish
Do you have a separate fryer?	¿Lo hacéis en una freidora separada?
Does this contain flour or breadcrumbs?	¿Esto contiene harina o pan rallado?
What options on the menu are gluten free?	¿Qué opciones del menú están libres de gluten?
Do you have a gluten free beer?	¿Tiene una cerveza sin gluten?

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Conclusions

So am I safe to visit Spain as a Celiac? Yes.

To recap:

• There is a high awareness of celiac disease and gluten free living throughout the country.
• Gluten free substitute items are widely available in most supermarkets, including the small local ones. The exceptions are Aldi, Lidl and Condis.
• The safest restaurants to eat at are those certified by FACE. They can be found in the FACE mobile app.
• Big cities usually have dedicated gluten free restaurants, cafes and shops.

Go book that flight! Spain is a country that genuinely cares about its celiac visitors, making it one of the easiest, most rewarding destinations in Europe. ¡Buen Provecho!

FAQs

Do I need a Celiac translation card in Spain?

While awareness is high and English is common in tourist areas, it’s highly recommended, in rural areas. Having a card with clear Spanish phrases helps communicate the severity of your needs, particularly regarding cross-contamination.

Are Spanish tapas generally safe for celiacs?

Many traditional tapas are naturally gluten-free, such as Jamón Ibérico, Patatas Bravas, and Gambas al Ajillo. However, be extremely wary of fried tapas like Croquetas and Calamari, which are breaded and often fried in shared oil. Stick to the naturally safe options or visit a FACE-certified tapas bar.

What is the best strategy for avoiding cross-contamination when eating out?

Look for FACE-certified restaurants first. If dining elsewhere, clearly state you are celíaco (celiac) and ask specifically: “¿Lo hacéis en una freidora separada?” (Do you make this in a separate fryer?) and “¿Contiene trazas de gluten?” (Could it contain traces of gluten?)

Where can I find good quality gluten-free bread in Spain?

The widely available Bimbo brand is a great supermarket option. For superior quality, look for dedicated gluten-free bakeries (panaderías sin gluten) in major cities, which often offer fresh, artisanal loaves that are far better than packaged alternatives.