Buying Bud in Barcelona

Known as the Anarchist’s City, festive Barcelona, two hours south of the French border on the Mediterranean supports a smoke-friendly environment. Life is laid back. Stores open at 9 or 10 AM, many close from 2-5 for lunch and reopen from 5-8. The bars start hopping about 8 PM. The real nightlife starts after dinner, about 10 PM and later. Stop by one of the grow stores (some 300 in Spain) to buy seeds. L’Interior, Carrier Carmen 29 is one of the biggest.

Big Spanish Sativa bud stretches for omnipresent sunshine.

Giant Spanish buds resemble tree trunks from a distance.

Foreigners or “giris” and tokers congregate in the mid evil Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter) of Old Town. Take the green subway (metro) line to Plaça Catalunya and stroll down Las Ramblas, Barcelona’s most famous avenue, toward the sea. Las Ramblas is packed with sidewalk cafés, vendors, street performers and pickpockets. Pick up a copy of Yerba, HIGH TIMES’ sister magazine here. Take a left at Carrier (street) Boquerilla walk a block and take a left to the Plaça St. Josep Oriol and the adjoining Plaça del Pi, where Hotel El Jardi ($50) that overlooks both plazas; nearby Hotel Palmera, Carrier Jerusalem ($25) and other economical hotels are everywhere. Stop by the Basque bar Irrati in the afternoon for the best tapas in the city. Check out the bar Segundo Acto after 8 PM on nearby Carrier Roca.

Scoring good hash and more scarce bud requires skill. Avoid street vendors in Plaça Reial, they are famous for selling “soap hash” or hash cut with the Henna hair dye. Check out Pipa Club (ring the bell to get in) or the discotheque Jamboree in Plaça Reial. Look for tokers and often they will have some smoke or know where you can find some. Smile and ask for a “calada” or toke. Be careful when they pass you the joint (porro, canuto, petardo, or fly), its most often mixed with tobacco. If your Spanish (or Catalan, the local language) is limited ask for a “huevo” about 5 grams of good hash shaped like an egg (cost about $25) or if you are lucky during harvest season – Sept.- Nov. – you can find buds (cogoyos) or simply marihuana from $5-9 a gram.

Nice top like this sativa are becoming more common in Spain.

Peyote plants are legal in Spain. Buy them at el Cactus, Tel. 0938-414-382.

Parc de la Ciutadella hosts concerts every Sunday and tokers gather there most afternoons and evenings. This is a good place to find fumetas (tokers) with a higher quality puff. Sunday is the best day to score from roaming dealers. Keep your eye out for the cops (guardia, urbanos or policia). They rarely cause problems and most people smoke in the open, but wait for others to light up before firing up your porro.