Hi, Now that my husband, son and I have booked our tickets to Madrid and Barcelona, I have a rather specific question. My son cannot eat anything with gluten in it (wheat, barley,oats,rye). Has anyone experienced eating in either of these cities with that requirement? I think he should do all right judging from what I found on the menus last year, but it does get rather specific. Such as if you do order something you know is gluten free, but they put some bread on the plate, it needs to be sent back. If the grill, or pan, or pot etc had any of the above, and then he eats something that is gluten free, but it is cooked in the same item without being cleaned in between he will get sick.

We are going to have some cards made up for the waiters to give to the cooks, but just wondered if any readers had had this experience. Please feel free to send a private message if you would like privacy in this health topic. Thanks everyone!

Hi jacmom! Not to worry, it's relatively easy to eat gluten free in Madrid and Barcelona (and many other smaller cities in Spain).

My 5 year old son is celiac and we live here in Madrid. You can specify "comida sin gluten" (food without gluten). The waitstaff here are pretty much up to date on the issue thanks to a very active Celiac Association here.

Just be sure to ask for food "a la plancha" (grilled) and avoid breaded, fried foods. Always ask if the fried potatoes (french fries) were cooked in a separate fryer from the other breaded, fried foods.

There are a few restaurants that are beginning to cater to the GF crowd. I believe VIPS, a national chain of casual eateries, has a few GF offerings on their menu.

GF bread is relatively easy to find as well. A national supermarket, Mercadona, was one of the first in Spain to clearly mark their food gluten free (sin gluten). Since then, many other supermarkets (Día, Ahorramás, Simply, Carrefour) have followed suit. Not all of them carry GF bread but Mercadona does (pan sin gluten). Otherwise, you can also buy GF bread, muffins, etc in Herbolarios...like a healthfood shop. A loaf of GF bread will run you about 4.00€, a pack of 8 muffins about 2.50-3.00€.

You probably already know this, but the anchovy stuffed olives are safe for your son as well as of the "iberico" meats (jamón curado, lomo curado). I would avoid chorizo unless it is specifically marked GF. You can buy packs of GF chorizo in Mercadona and other supermarkets.

The EU has passed a law about the food labeling so it's relatively easy to determine if the food is GF since most of the times it will be clearly labled as such. Only a few of the multinationals (Kraft, etc) refuse to put a clear label and simply direct the customers to read the ingredient list. If you see "almidon" (starch) on the list and is not specified "patata or maiz" avoid it as it might be wheat.

Anyway, feel free to message me privately if you need more details.

Hope that helps! Happy, healthy eating!

Thanks, Chica! I have sent a private message

There is gluten free beer in Spain! It is Estrella Damm sin gluten, maybe sometimes called Estrella Daura. It can be purchased at several stores, such as Mercadona. I will see if it is actually served in any bars in Madrid or Barcelona and will try to remember the locations, if we find any.

Thanks, Chica, for your assistance!

Just the other day I took notice of a store which had a big sign out front saying "Gluten Free". It was a permanent part of the store's façade, in fact, and I thought to myself, "My goodness! For them to have such a big sign there must be quite a market for this."

Saludos, MadridMan

Im not being a bit sarcastic at all but I cant recall what people did when I was growing up in terms of addressing their allergens, let it be latex, peanuts, or adverse substances such as MSG that can trigger migraines on some people, lactose intolerance, gluten, etc... I'm sure that they had to be very precarious on their going for tapas or avoid them altogether...

Hi,
Fully understand what you are saying, sometimes it seems like there is a 'disease of the month'. There have not always been some of these allegens in such quantity. In the case of celiac disease, it is thought that more people have this because of changes in the wheat seed. A certain gluten protein has increased 80 -90% over the last 50 years. A person now diagnosed with celiac, might not have had it if the world still used the wheat seeds from the past. Of course, we might not be feeding as many people with wheat as we do now.

Apparently, in the USA, 1/133 people have this, unfortunately, many are undiagnosed.

So, I don't what this to get too medical (not my field, not the purpose of MM forums). Just thought this might explain a bit about how this is increasing and the market for gluten free is increasing.

I'm all about for providing for those who need special handling or treatment and I'm actually happy that Spain has gotten there,,, I come from a much different Spain than the one seen today and your reasoning makes sense, an increase on percentages grants a more visible status where once it was practically unseen and unheard of.