Granada shops like nowhere else in Spain: a surviving silk-market maze, taracea marquetry workshops that still cut bone and olive wood by hand, blue-and-white fajalauza pottery, and Alpujarra rag rugs woven on wooden looms.
Granada's 1930s covered food market beside the cathedral, open Mon–Sat roughly 08:00–15:00. Two floors of Motril fish, Trevélez mountain ham, Baza cheese and Órgiva olive oil. Stalls sell vacuum-packed jamón slices from about €6 for travel.
The narrow covered alleys off Calle Zacatín are what remains of the Nasrid silk souk that burned in 1843 and was rebuilt as a 19th-century bazaar. Stalls stack Fez-style lanterns, teapots and embroidered slippers; expect €8-15 for a small pierced-brass lamp.
A family marquetry workshop near the Alhambra woods where inlaid boxes are assembled from mother-of-pearl, bone and citrus wood in Nasrid geometric star patterns. The bench work is visible from the shop floor; chessboards and jewellery boxes dominate the shelves.
The cobalt-on-white pottery tradition named after the Bab al-Fajj Lawza gate has been fired on Cuesta de San Antonio since the 16th century. Pomegranate and bird motifs on plates, jugs and jardinières; seconds with kiln marks sell at a discount.
Granada's main retail spine running south from Puerta Real: Spanish high street labels, shoe shops and the El Corte Inglés at Carrera del Genil. Most independents keep the siesta, closing 14:00–17:00, so morning is the productive window.
A large independent bookshop that has served Granada's university since 1969, strong on Lorca first editions, Al-Andalus history and Andalusian architecture. English-language shelves upstairs and a decent selection of city maps and prints.
The steep street climbing toward the Alhambra gate holds a cluster of luthiers, several third-generation, building classical and flamenco guitars from cypress and spruce. Workshops welcome browsers; student instruments hang beside €3,000 handmade boxes.
The 'Little Morocco' lane between Elvira and the Albaicín sells loose-leaf blends, argan oil, silver-plated tea glasses and babouches, with tea houses filling the gaps. Herbal mixes are sold by weight from open sacks — pomegranate and mint blends are the local seller.
The Albaicín's own square hosts shops carrying jarapas — thick striped rag rugs and blankets still woven on wooden looms in villages like Bubión and Pampaneira. Hand-loomed pieces have uneven weft and knotted fringes; machine copies do not.
Cloistered nuns sell home-made pastries through a wooden turntable in Calle Cardenal Parrado — you speak to the box, not a person. Almond cakes and huesos de santo come by the boxed dozen; sales stop when the day's baking runs out.
Andalusia's largest mall, 8 km south of the centre with around 200 stores, an ice rink and cinemas, open daily including Sundays to roughly 22:00 — useful when the historic centre shutters. Reachable by bus 121 or a €10-12 taxi.
Back in the centre, delicatessens around Plaza Bib-Rambla stock the region's edible souvenirs: piononos sponge-and-cream cakes from nearby Santa Fe, Alhambra beer, Sierra Nevada honey and pomegranate liqueur, the city's own heraldic fruit.