Hey All,
Which Center is better and worth the visit?

Las Rozas Village in Madrid
or
La Roca Village in Barcelona

Looking for good buys and great fashions and want to know which one is better.
:hdspin:

I´ve posted on the subject of Las Rozas recently, and my main point is applicable to factory villages in general. Make sure you know the real retail value of products on the high street before you part with your hard earned.

There are certainly bargains to be had, but there are also many fake discounts and products which are not stocked in the regular stores, so when a price for a famous brand may appear cheap, the reality can be that they do not sell the item anywhere else.

Apart from those words of wisdom, Las Rozas is worth a visit, I have never been to La Roca though .

Well worth visiting is the Chinese district north of La Latina (in Madrid), dozens of clothing shops run by Chinese immigrants. Prices are very good but be forewarned the Spanish are short and very thin.

There is a new big Shopping Mall (in Madrid) at Principe Pio inside the station (ESTACION DEL NORTE). There is almost everything there, eatery, movies, clothing, etc, etc.

That mall at Principe Pio does not have the best shopping, (sorry).
If you want shopping, go to the center by Sol, Shoes-go to C/Agosto Figueroa in Huertas district north of Gran Via, and if you really want a mall-go to Xanadu, it's on the outskirts, you can take buses there. They have everything, even a ski mountain.
The shopping is the same as in the center of town but in the summer heat, it is enclosed and air conditioned.
You did ask for outlets-so the Factory stores are the place to go outside Madrid.

Calle Augusto Figueroa is in Chueca (in Madrid). Huertas is south of Gran Vía near Plaza Santa Ana.

Thank you for the correction, I always get the two neighborhood names mixed up!

You need to get out of city (Madrid) to get best shopping: go to parque Corredor in Torrejon de Ardoz, get bus #224 from intercambiador in Avenida de América bus depot to central town (Constitución Ave) Torrejon then bus 24 to parque.

Not sure of the bus numbers but once in Avenida de América bus depot they will tell you how to get to parque corredor.

I think La Roca outside of Barcelona is the better of the two, but Las Rozas is cheap and easy to get to even without a car. The bus from Moncloa to Las Rozas stops in front of the outlet center. Since it's such an easy trip, you don't need to spend a whole day doing this. Half a day is sufficient.

With the exchange rate being not where I want it to be, these outlet centers have become a regular stop on my European city visits. Most are very inconveniently located, and you spend half a day getting lost before you actually get to shop. Either that or you pay for an overpriced tour van where they, not you, decide how long you're staying.

In comparison, the cheap and easy ride to Las Rozas is a gift.

While they're not giving anything away here, you can buy many quality Spanish brands for considerably less than retail price. You'll fine Loewe, Camper shoes, Tous, Custo Barcelona, Adolfo Dominguez and various Spanish shoe companies.

They also have outlet stores from many other European brands such as Versace, Bally, Barbour and Burberry.

Also, at outlet centers, the salespeople are not as paranoid about customers handling the merchandise as they tend to be at downtown designer boutiques, so shopping is much more relaxing.

You can get information from their website: http://www.lasrozasvillage.com/es_ES/

It seems that they have opened many new stores since I was last there.

The outlet center at Las Rozas is located across the street from a kind of amusement park with a lot of restaurants, so you don't have to eat at the one place the outlet center offers.

DMC, the amusment park area you mention is actually called Heron City. Pretty good place to visit for something to eat, and there is a good gym there as well.