The Best Independent Bookstores in Zaragoza, Spain

Located in the northwest corner of the city, Librería Siglo XXI translates as ’21st Century Bookshop’. Despite its name however, it has been open since 1986, selling books, textbooks, school and office materials. In more recent years it has also started offering computer products and photocopy services. It specialises in reference books, but also has a section for kids and young adults.

Librería Cálamo is located just south of the city centre. It opened in 1983 and today is one of the most important bookstores in the city. The shop specialises in literature, philosophy, history, art and travel books, and the service is very personal, with staff who love to advise and inspire clients on what to read. The shop also has a huge kids’ section, which opened in 2010, and covers two floors. It not only features books, but also an activity centre, story telling corner, and even a small theatre. You can find books here in several languages including Spanish, English, German and Italian.

Librería Paris was first opened in 1963 by the Aragonese entrepreneur José Muñío. Still a family buisness today, it now stocks books from over 2,000 different publishers. You can get books here on everything from fiction and poetryto fantasy, history and cooking. There is also an excellent kids’ section.

El Armadillo Illustrado (‘The Illustrated Armadillo’) is a graphic bookstore, which specialises in illustrated books not only for kids, but also adults. There’s books on everything from graphic design, typography and architecture to poetry, illustrated cookery and fashion.

The oldest bookshop in the city, Librería General is also one of the biggest, covering five whole floors. Each floor is dedicated to a different genre, for example on the first floor you can find books dedicated to hobbies such as cinema, music, crafts, cooking and photography, as well as great kids’ corner. It’s also an excellent store for students, with the basement being dedicated to text books, stationery, education and language books.

As the name suggests Librería Central is very centrally located, and is a great comprehensive bookstore. Founded in 1981, it stocks both national and international books and has in total 491,000 reference books available – 215,000 of which are in stock. They specialise in books on humanities, language and travel, as well as kids’ books. The store also sells stationery, games and software, and has a cultural room for events.

Once a small kiosk on the Paseo de la Independencia, Pórtico Librerías first opened in 1945. Today it’s a large book store, which also has its own publishing company. The store stocks around 60,000 titles on the subjects such as archeology, Arabic history, classical studies, history of science, linguistics, music, art and anthropology.