Flowers in Barcelona

Flowers in Barcelona: Colombian roses, Mercabarna and delivery by zone

Mercabarna-flor, Barcelona's wholesale flower market on a 44,000 m² site in Sant Boi beside El Prat airport, forecast for Sant Jordi that 80% of roses would come from Colombia, 15% from Ecuador and 5% from the Netherlands. Any order of flowers in Barcelona is still put together only after payment, so what matters is the zone, the date and the format, not the flower's passport.

Flower delivery in Barcelona: zones and the centre free

Prices vary across the catalogue. Mono bouquets and roses sit at the simpler end, and flowers in boxes and mixed bouquets cost more. Designer bouquets sit at the top of the range, with peonies priced alongside the boxes and mixed bouquets. What changes with the address is the delivery fee and the wait.

• City centre, free — the bouquet card shows the delivery time, and express delivery is available if the bouquet is in stock with the florist.
• Inner districts such as Eixample — delivery costs extra, with the time shown on the bouquet card.
• Outer districts such as L'Hospitalet de Llobregat — delivery costs more and takes longer; it is a separate town next to Barcelona, not a city district.

Between 23:00 and 7:00 delivery runs by prior arrangement, with the price quoted separately, and the suburbs and neighbouring towns are priced on request before payment. A date and time slot can be chosen in any of the three zones, and delivery to the minute is available for a small extra charge. Every price above is for a single address.

22@ is the innovation district built from 2000 onward on former industrial land in Poblenou, between Glòries and Fòrum, and its offices are one of the trickier deliveries in the city. The courier needs the company name and the floor, and where a building runs a pass system the bouquet goes through reception, with the sender told who signed for it.

El Prat airport sits about 15 kilometres south-west of the centre, and delivery there runs on request: the courier waits at the arrivals gate holding a sign with the recipient's name. A hotel needs the surname the guest checked in under and the room number, and for a hospital the manager checks in advance whether the ward accepts fresh flowers before the order goes out.

Ordering from another country works the same way. Prices on the site are in euros, payment goes through by Visa or Mastercard, no account is needed, and a phone number for the recipient is enough where there is no fixed address. A photo of the finished bouquet is sent before the courier leaves, and the recipient is never told who sent it unless the card says so.

Mercabarna-flor: the wholesale market beside the runway

The market has traded since 1984, and the building in use today opened in 2008 after a fire destroyed the previous one in 2001. It runs three separate zones, for cut flowers, for plants and for accessories, and none of it is open to private buyers: everything moves wholesale, to florists and shops.

In spring, rose prices at Mercabarna-flor climbed, pushed up by aviation fuel costs and a rise in Colombia's minimum wage, the country supplying the largest share of the roses sold in the city. The 15% Ecuadorian share behind that forecast is where a bouquet such as the 19 White Ecuadorian Roses starts, bought in specifically for the order once it is paid for, not held ready on a shelf.

Sant Jordi falls on 23 April, and the tradition pairs a red rose with a sprig of wheat and a ribbon in the colours of the Catalan flag, exchanged for a book. The custom no longer follows the old split between who gives the rose and who gives the book: either side can offer either now.

Mother's Day in Spain falls on the first Sunday of May, and the date shifts each year. It lands right after the 1 May public holiday, so it is worth booking ahead before that week fills up. Delivery windows also widen around 14 February and 8 March, when an exact minute cannot be promised. 8 March itself is mostly marked in Spain through demonstrations, so it makes sense to note it only if you mark it by your own tradition.

Chrysanthemums belong to Tots Sants, 1 November, when they are taken to the cemetery; they are not a flower to choose as a gift for someone living.

Humid Augusts and rainy Octobers: a bouquet in a Barcelona flat

July and August bring daytime highs around 29°C, and air conditioning running indoors dries the air around a bouquet fast. So change the water every day or two, and keep the vase off a sunny windowsill. September and October are the wettest months, with 85–91mm of rain and humidity around 74–75%, conditions a cut flower tolerates better than the summer heat.

Winter is mild by comparison, with January days around 15°C, and a bouquet indoors needs little more than fresh water and a spot away from direct sun through the colder months.