As one who wants to pack light and buy as needed, I was just wondering if people knew whether there are many thrift stores in Spain? Do they have the equivalent Goodwills and Salvation Armies? Can I buy a thighmaster (still in the box) if necessary? While I am at it, I might as well ask about flea markets. Have the finest parts of American Culture reached overseas? Thanks for any help>

Yes, there are some thrift stores, but not nearly as many or as popular as in the US. Mostly they have just clothes. If you want stuff, you need to find a specialized store that buys and sells used items. I've never done the flea market thing, so I don't know what they have there, but I've done second-hand clothes and furniture/household goods. Buying through ads in the newspaper is a good way to find stuff. Are you moving here or just travelling? It wouldn't be worth bothering with if just travelling, I don't think.

What kind of "stuff" are you looking for? If you'll be in Barcelona or Madrid, let me know, I can give you names and addresses of stores, etc.

El rastro is very similar to a flea market. It is held on Sundays in Madrid, someone else must know the exact location. There is one in Salamanca, too, on Sundays by the river.

The Rastro flea market is said to be the biggest in Europe. Held every sunday morning,almost anyone will be able to tell you where it is. I know that its a short walk from the Plaza Mayor. null

Be VERY careful at Rastro. It is one of the favourite pickpocketers' places. Once I took a friend from India there, I warned him, but he said he knew Calcutta and Bombay, ...

And he was pickpocketed in front of me with the trick of throwing a coin at his feet, and pretending that he (one of the picks.) was looking for it.

Later, he began to touch my friends' lower part of trouserrs, and his shoes. Then I realized sth. wrong was happenig, and I leant forward and down to make him go.

Unfortunately my friend did the same,and the person behind him could at last take his wallet and flee. No possibility to catch him in the crowd.

Rastro is at Alameda de Hercules, not far from Sol.

I looked for used clothing in Seville and Madrid and was not very successful. The tourist offices in both cities were surprised by the question, but came up with a few places (Second Hand Stores). It seemed to me that about half of the clothes came from the States.

When travelling the US, I always keep an eye out for thrift stores. I'm still wearing the Montana State sweatshirt I bought in Bozeman for a dime. I was hoping to find the something like that in Spain (UMadrid?) but was disappointed.

When in Madrid I also did not see any thrift stores or charity shops as we call them here in UK. But I did notice one up north in Zaragoza in a shopping arcade, I think it was in aid of the heart foundation. It had an assortment of clothing and small household items at very reasonable prices.
Good hunting!

There are a couple shops on Fuencarral and Hortaleza in Madrid, but they cater to the young tres chic wannabe poor crowd-- Leather jackets, used Levi's and such. In fact, used leather jackets are the only real great used deal. There's also a tattoo parlour on Montera that has a small selection of used Levi's and used leather jackets. But no SAVER'S or Marshalls or TJ Maxx type place in Spain, except for SEPU on Gran Via and the pickings there are just plain embarassing.

You wrote: "Have the finest parts of American culture reached overseas?" Flea markets are not an American innovation. Paris and Madrid had them many years before us! Garage sales are probably American.

There are some thrift shops. I passed one in Huelva last week and thru the door saw a beautiful Rociera dress: a child's size. I asked the price; it was ESP 2.000 (about $10 USD) and it was like new, so I bought it for one of my granddaughters. They also had some adult sizes at the same price; but if you are asking about a 'ThighMaster,' they probably don't have your size.

That particular thrift shop is run by an organization that supports a halfway house for recovering drug addicts. I don't think you will find such places advertised anywhere. You just have to stumble across them.

I was at a great thrift shop in Salamanca called En Marte on Avda Portugal. It seemed to me that there were thrift stores in many of the cities I visited around Spain.