Vintage poster shop | Barcelona

Update: this shop no longer exists, but I’m leaving the post up as a keepsake.

‘Prohibido Fijar Carteles’ (Post No Bills) is a shop selling original vintage posters that takes you back in time. Right in the heart of El Born, it has posters on every kind of subject, from every origin and in every size.

Political posters, advertising posters (food, hygiene, cleaning products), sports posters, posters for fairs and exhibitions… decorate the space in seemingly random fashion. The oldest date from the late 19th century, the dawn of poster art, and, by way of Modernisme (Catalan Art Nouveau), Art Deco and the various 20th-century avant-gardes, they go right up to the Barcelona ‘92 Olympic Games.

All the posters are carefully classified and stored. The ones in poorer condition are linen-backed, that is, mounted on canvas to help preserve them (though the backing could be removed on request). Prices range from €50 to more than €2,000, depending on the period, the size, the condition, the poster’s designer and other factors.

The premises used to be an old bookshop called ‘Llibres i papers antics’ (Old Books and Papers), which belonged to the same family who, from 1980 onwards, turned the business towards another kind of paper. A glass door invites you in, a small, unremarkable counter greets you on the left, and on the right a poster forbids women without stockings from entering.

The shop is long and narrow, but of the three spaces you can see one behind the other, only the first is open to visitors. The ceilings are high, with iron beams that allow the longest posters to be hung, and the fittings are in century-old wood. No doubt the setting still recalls the old bookshop it once was.

We discovered this little treasure trove of original vintage posters in El Born because we were looking for a poster like this to decorate our kitchen.

After a lot of dithering, we finally went for the Barilla pasta one, which you can see at the side of the picture above. As soon as it’s up on the wall, I’ll ‘introduce’ it to you in its new home.

Even if you’re not planning to buy a poster, it’s worth popping in for a nose around the whole collection, not just for the posters but for the charm of the place. And who knows, you might just walk out with a poster under your arm.

Address: Carrer Assaonadors 10, 08003 Barcelona

Telephone: 932 681 320

Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 4pm to 8pm