Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, as well as hiding plenty of history around every corner, also hides some very charming little shops. Right next to Plaça Sant Felip Neri, there has been a small soap shop since 2006, originally from Argentina but founded by a Catalan family who had emigrated there: the Fabrica de Jabones Hermanos Sabater. Today the business is run by the third generation, and it sells not only in Barcelona but also in Athens, Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile. In an endless array of colours and scents, the different kinds of soap are laid out in boxes, with little signs identifying the scent of each variety, as varied as green tea, sandalwood, argan, grass, rosemary, mint and jasmine, the best-seller, among many others.

Handmade soap shop, Barcelona

They also come in different shapes: some stamped with the Hermanos Sabater brand in Art Deco style, others like old-fashioned bars of soap, others shaped like Barcelona’s pavement tiles, as well as petals, little figures, shavings, numbers and letters.

The bigger bars are made in a workshop they have in Barcelona, but the various smaller shapes are made in the shop itself. Some of the soaps contain mica, which, like glitter, leaves your hands with tiny sparkly highlights.

Hermanos Sabater soaps, Barcelona

The gift wrapping is impeccable: there are several kinds of little boxes, for single bars or sets of three, in the colour of your choice. I couldn’t resist buying a soap or two as presents. It’s worth trying a new scent.

Here’s a video of the soap shop if you’d like to know more.

And the official website of the Fabrica de Jabones Hermanos Sabater.

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