Cafeography
Barcelona · El Born & Sant Pere

Cafés in El Born & Sant Pere

Santa Maria del Mar, the Born market ruins and two pioneering roasters.

Photo: Aaron Porras, Pexels License

Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera is one barri of the Ciutat Vella, joined from three old neighborhoods; its southeastern part, below Carrer de la Princesa toward Barceloneta, is usually called El Born.1 The parish church, Santa Maria del Mar, went up between 1329 and 1383 in the Catalan Gothic style, with every guild of the Ribera involved and the bastaixos (port porters) carrying the stone.2

Two of the city's coffee milestones are here: a family roaster on Carrer de l'Argenteria whose business began as a grocery in 1919, and the narrow bar in Passatge de Sert where Nomad opened in 2014.34 Around them are a churrería on Via Laietana, crema catalana on Carrer dels Canvis Vells and late cafés around Plaça de Sant Cugat.

Local tip: Nomad's Coffee Lab in Passatge de Sert is open only Monday to Friday, 08:30–17:30; on a Saturday, go to Cafés El Magnífico on Carrer de l'Argenteria, which opens at 09:00.

At a glance

49Cafés listed
4With opening hours
08:30Earliest opening
20:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Nømad Cøffee, from 08:30 (Mon–Fri 08:30–17:30).
  • Closes latest: Cafés El Magnífico, until 20:00 (Mon–Sat 09:00–20:00).
  • Most common features: outdoor seating (8%), specialty (6%), wi-fi (6%).

True Artisan Cafe

  • Passatge de Sant Benet, 6
  • Tue–Fri 09:00–18:00 · Sat 10:00–19:00
MapIs this you?Report

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Barcelona.

Coffee chains in El Born & Sant Pere

Getting to El Born and Sant Pere

Jaume I, on line L4, is the nearest metro stop for Santa Maria del Mar and the Passeig del Born.1 At the Sant Pere end, the Mercat de Santa Caterina opened on 15 August 1848 on the site of a convent demolished in 1837. Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue's rebuild, reopened on 10 May 2005, kept the old façades and added a wave-shaped roof covered in about 4,200 m² of ceramic in the colors of fruit and vegetables.5

The Born market and the streets of 1714

At the end of the Passeig del Born stands the iron market Josep Fontserè designed, built in 1874–1876. It sold mostly fish at first, became the city's wholesale fruit and vegetable market in 1921 and closed on 7 August 1971, when the trade moved to Mercabarna.6

Under it lie streets of the medieval Ribera, demolished from 1717 for the esplanade of the Ciutadella after the siege of 1714. Since 11 September 2013 the building has been El Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria, with the excavated houses on view and a museum on the War of the Spanish Succession in Catalonia.6

Roasters on Argenteria and Passatge de Sert

Cafés El Magnífico, at Carrer de l'Argenteria 64-66, grew from a colonial-goods shop opened in 1919 by Salvador Sans's grandfather. His parents founded the coffee brand in 1962, the Argenteria shop has roasted since 1989, and in 2018 the firm bought La Portorriqueña, a Raval roaster founded in 1906.3 It opens Monday to Saturday, 09:00–20:00.

Nomad's Coffee Lab, at Passatge de Sert 12, opened in 2014 after Jordi Mestre, twice Spanish barista champion, sold the coffee cart he had run at London street markets and moved the business home; its first roastery followed in Poblenou a year later.4 The Lab keeps weekday hours, 08:30–17:30. Hidden Coffee BCN on Carrer del Consolat de Mar is another specialty bar nearby.

Churros early, cafés late

Xurreria Laietana is at Via Laietana 46. José Ruz, who learned to fry churros at his father's shop on Carrer de la Princesa from 1966, ran it from 1985, when winter days meant up to 100 kg of churros, about 5,500 pieces, and queues of 25 minutes. He has since retired and sold it, and the new owner has kept it as it was.7

At the other end of the day, Alsur Café on Plaça de Sant Cugat stays open until 02:30 on Friday and Saturday and past midnight on its other days. True Artisan Cafe in Passatge de Sant Benet opens Tuesday to Saturday, and Sucre Cremat on Carrer dels Canvis Vells takes its name from crema catalana, the burnt-sugar custard.

Sources

  1. Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Santa Maria del Mar, Barcelona, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. Nosotros, Cafés El Magnífico, accessed October 2026
  4. Our history, Nomad Coffee, accessed October 2026
  5. Mercat de Santa Caterina, Viquipèdia, accessed October 2026
  6. Mercat del Born, Viquipèdia, accessed October 2026
  7. La Xurreria Laietana canvia de propietari, betevé, accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

More of Barcelona

Barri Gòtic

55 cafés

Sant Antoni

47 cafés

Eixample Esquerra

119 cafés

Eixample Dreta

137 cafés

Sagrada Família & Fort Pienc

121 cafés

Gràcia

110 cafés

Poblenou

98 cafés

In El Born & Sant Pere, also browse: Specialty coffee Terraces Wi-Fi Brunch Bakery cafés

FAQ

El Born & Sant Pere cafés: questions

When did Cafés El Magnífico start roasting coffee in El Born, Barcelona?

The business began as a colonial-goods shop opened in 1919 by Salvador Sans's grandfather. His parents launched the Cafés El Magnífico brand in 1962, and the shop at Carrer de l'Argenteria 64-66 has roasted coffee since 1989. It opens Monday to Saturday, 09:00–20:00.

What is El Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria in Barcelona?

It is the former Born market, an iron hall built in 1874–1876 to Josep Fontserè's design, which closed as a wholesale market in 1971. Beneath it are streets of the medieval Ribera demolished from 1717 for the Ciutadella esplanade. It opened as a cultural center on 11 September 2013, with the excavations on view.

Where did Nomad Coffee open its first café in El Born, Barcelona?

Nomad opened its Coffee Lab at Passatge de Sert 12 in 2014, after founder Jordi Mestre, twice Spanish barista champion, sold his London coffee cart and moved to Barcelona. Its first roastery opened in Poblenou in 2015. The Coffee Lab is open Monday to Friday, 08:30–17:30.

For café owners

Own a café in El Born & Sant Pere?

Free listings are free for good. A featured page gives you photos, a menu and your own URL, in your café's own design, for less than a coffee a day.

Get listed, free See a page in its own design