Tel: 96 315 9500
Website: www.elcorteingles.es
Corte Ingles is the leading department store chain in Valencia (and presumably in Spain). Our Valencia city map was sponsored by Corte Ingles, so we could see exactly where its four city-centre branches were when we needed some retail therapy.
We visited Corte Ingles with the intention of buying some durable groceries to take home. We visited the branch at Pintor Sorolla 26 on a Monday afternoon, when most of Valencia’s other tourist attractions are closed to visitors. It was time well spent, and we were persuaded to spend more than we had expected to.
The Corte Ingles grocery is on the fifth floor. Here we stocked up on olive oil and marconas (delicious salted almonds that are sometimes served with tapas). We were then drawn to the delicatessen by the impressive display of hanging hams. Here we tested the patience of the friendly server by picking up an array of delicious ham slices, a couple of cheeses, and some fresh bread for a picnic.
Also on the fifth floor, Tina noticed the "promotions" section of the store. It appears that Corte Ingles groups all its bargain items in the same place, and this is not obvious to the uninitiated visitor to the lower floors of the store (where most of the clothes are). Tina found some inescapable bargains (24€ for some trousers) and was happy. It was a good find.
The fifth floor also houses my favourite part of Corte Ingles – the traditional costumes section. Here we found an impressive array of the traditional "princess" dresses that we had seen being worn at Fallas events around the town. They are available in a range of sizes and prices, and they totally overshadow the rather puny waistcoats on sale for the men. For keen sewers, the material that goes into these beautiful dresses is also on sale.
We enjoyed our visit to Corte Ingles. We were happy with our purchases, and the tourist attraction appeal of the traditional dresses was an unexpected bonus.
TIP: The Spanish word for sale is rabajas.