Vegan in Spain

[Appletree]

Hey everyone,

 

3 months ago I moved to Spain from Germany.

 

Are any of you living here in Spain?

 

 

Do any of you know how to survive without tofu/seitan etc?

 

The kitchen I can use contains wholewheat stuff and organic fruits and vegetables (and cheese and meat which I am not interested in), but I cant afford going to the organic store and buying tofu etc. for myself.

 

But when I come home from working out in the evening, I dont like having carbs like brown rice (I had carbs for lunch and breakfast already).

 

Is fruit enough? Or do I NEED things like soy milk etc to cover my protein intake?

[Marcina]

I believe Ruz is from Spain actually.

 

She pops in every now and then

[CollegeB]

I believe spain to be a challenging place for vegans. Keep us posted!

[Appletree]

Well....challenging... I find myself craving vegetarian stuff because I cant cover my needs by the vegan stuff I could shop in Germany.

 

 

I will write her, thanks a million

[Ruz]

I forgot to say, I make my own seitan as although you can get seitan here, its REALLY expensive. Gluten flour on the other hand is about 2.5 euros for 500g. I've tried loads of recipes but have settled on one which I think is the best. I'll write it up properly and send it to you if you want. But not right now..i'm a teacher in the middle of exams and reports and my life is hell LOL

As regards tofu, personally I don't eat it. But it works out really expensive from the "herboristeria". However, there are lots of chinese convenience stores springing up which sell some chinese foods and their tofu (which is GM free) is about 1 euro a block. They also often have spicy dried soy fake meat stuff which is dirt cheap and quite tasty.

Most supermarkets stock soy milk, mercadona have one which is GM free and really cheap called "yosoy". El Corte Ingles stock almond milk and chufa (tiger nut milk). The almond milk is expensive though and you'll get it from the herboristeria at the same price but there it will be organic.

I buy protein powders and supplements from myprotein.co.uk. It works out cheaper than getting protein powders here in Spain. I did manage to order a soy protein once inland, and it wasn't too expensive, but I wrote to the company to ask them about their methods of extracting the protein from the soy and they were none too helpful, so I stay with a company I trust. "My protein" deliver in less than a week and stock very reasonably priced organic rice protein, moderately priced organic hemp protein, and pea and soy proteins which are both very cheap (however, I wouldn't recommed either, they taste grim). The rice is nice mixed with tiger nut milk which is 1.15 Euros a litre from the corte ingles, and hemp goes with just about any fruit juice.

I think there is a mail order shop in madrid for vegan food products, I get my vegan cat food from there. Get in touch with Igualdad Animal and they will be able to tell you, but last I saw, they stocked "cheesley" products and stuff like that.

Let me know if I can help you with anything else..and take care when eating out. After complaining that there was ham in my mushroom tapa (which they assured me was totally vegetable in origin) I was told, and I quote: "¡Pero jamon no es carne!"

Best I can get here eating out is falafel, but they are yummy at least! I can also eat some chinese stuff though I don't do it often because of all the MSG.

[Appletree]

Thanks a million!!!

 

Today I went to the organic shop and spent about 20 Euros on Tofu and Seitan, it should last a while!

 

I would be thankful for your seitan recipe!

 

The problem is, that I am working as au pair which means living with the family whose kids I care for, and i get food and accomodation free, and a little pocket money which means the things I dont find in the house (such as soymilk etc) I have to pay from my poor pocket money.

In Germany it was a lot easier because I gained my own money to spend on food which is way cheaper there than here in Spain.

 

Tomorrow I will go to the office of Igualdad Animal, they are in the center of Madrid.

 

I love having proteinshakes after working out, but I cant use them here, unfortunately, because I am supposed do have diner with the family in the evening and if I come later from the gym, I dont know if it would be ok to secretly take my proteinshakes in my room

 

Everything was way easier last year, living on my own and gaining my own money, but now I have the chance to live in Spain for 10 months and learn the language.

 

[Ruz]

I have my protein drink in the gym after I work out while I'm stretching

Its a bummer that you don't have much money. Anyway, the spanish eat a lot of pulses so there shouldn't be many problems. Ask to try Spanish Acelgas, or Pisto or Lentejas..I love the way they prepare them..its all in the sofrito!!

Summer will be a lot easier for you as they prepare a lot of cold salads with pulses and veggies. Here we vegans make spanish omlette with chickpea flour and it tastes almost exactly the same..get someone frion Igauldad Animal to give you the recipe. If your family are considerate enough, most dishes are not actually based around meat, but have small amounts of meat added. it wouldn't be too much work for them to seperate a portion for you before they add the meat so try asking and good luck!

[xjohanx]

I love Spain and I hope to go there over new years!

When I was in Barcelona I had no problems finding restaurants who served vegan food or places to buy legumes, tofu, veggies, fruits and grains. You don't have to buy organic tofu, there is plenty of cheap asian groceries that has both cheap tofy, tempeh and soy milk (they also carry weird mock meats if you are intrested).

[Ruz]

I love Spain and I hope to go there over new years!

When I was in Barcelona I had no problems finding restaurants who served vegan food or places to buy legumes, tofu, veggies, fruits and grains. You don't have to buy organic tofu, there is plenty of cheap asian groceries that has both cheap tofy, tempeh and soy milk (they also carry weird mock meats if you are intrested).

Unfortunately, Barcelona is nothing like the south of spain. Barcelona has a "progressively thinking" society which is completely different to the south where most of the people don't want to advance in any way and cling on desperately to antiquated traditions, including dietry traditions. Come to cordoba and try to eat vegan if you fancy a challenge!

[xjohanx]

I eat legumes, grains, potatoes, nuts, fruits and veggies. I would probably be able to find those things anywhere. The fruit and veggie section is probably a whole lot better in Spain than over here. And I wouldn't have to worry about selenium deficiency since your soil levels seems to be fine unlike ours

Now if only I could learn spanish...

[Appletree]

I came to spain without knowing any spanish, and if you surround yourself with spanish people you learn very fast!

 

Theres a lot of vegan restaurant in Madrid as well, but as I am just an aupair, I cant afford it too often...

 

@ Ruz: Do you get vegan protein at the gym or do you store your own protein and soymilk there?

[Ruz]

I came to spain without knowing any spanish, and if you surround yourself with spanish people you learn very fast!

 

Theres a lot of vegan restaurant in Madrid as well, but as I am just an aupair, I cant afford it too often...

 

@ Ruz: Do you get vegan protein at the gym or do you store your own protein and soymilk there?

No, Cordoba is terrible for vegans!! They don't sell vegan protein anywhere in spain apart from soya portien and that is with Gm soya and using hexane to extract it..yuk!!

I get my protein sent over in bulk from the uk from the following website:

http://www.myprotein.co.uk/

The deliver quickly and it still works out cheaper than buying soya protein from in Spain. Also, they have a lot more choice!!

I don't drink soya milk anymore because I've developed a slight intolerance to everything containing soya, but i used to buy it from mercadona. its 1.05 euros a litre (yosoy which is the only soya milk available cheaply which doesn't use GM soya). There should be a mercadona near you as they are a very popular supermarket in Spain. If not, you will have to pay about 3 times this price to buy from the herboristeria

[runner]

In Madrid you can buy pea proteine, hemp proteine..

 

might not be the cheapest solution, but still..

 

please let me know if you need any help.

[Ruz]

In Madrid you can buy pea proteine, hemp proteine..

 

might not be the cheapest solution, but still..

 

please let me know if you need any help.

Really? Where?

[RAINRA]

I am currently here in Spain until the 1st. I been here for the holidays. I went to the grocery store and found a lot of tofu and soy based products plus a lot of BIO (organic) produce. The produce here is awesome. Although most lettuce is pre packaged. I like my kale.... Produce here is pretty cheap. I even have chickpease and tahini and garlic and make hummus. As for healthy stuff well I did not find what I like which is wheatgrass. I went to the restaurant YerbaBuena which I took my whole family too and it was awesome! Expensive for a low budget but once in a blue moon is a great place to go.

 

I think the more processed or fake meats you want it will be harder but I believe most store at least have soy milk which is now more popular here and produce, nuts beans and grains.

[VeggaMuscle]

Hello,

 

I live in Madrid. I am wondering where you can find hemp protein. I´ve never seen it

 

Sometime Spain is hard for vegetarian compare to others Europeans countries.

[runner]

you can find it at vegania (check for there address vegania.com

[runner]

anyone will go to veganfestival this weekend next to Madrid?

[vege]

I LOVE SPAIN! My sister lives in Barcelona, and I spent my summer there last year. There are some good stuff and some bad stuff about being vegan in Barcelona.

 

I used to buy my organic tofu in shop called VERITAS, and I can tell you, it is A LOT cheaper then in Serbia. Next good thing is - EVERY shop, even the worse one has jars with precooked chickpeas, beans or lentils. But there are also lots of small private places where they sell only cooked legumes out of big pots (I guess "lazy" housewives use that to quickly cook their lunches, I don't blame them, it's so convenient and you certainly have better things to do in summer in Barcelona, rather then cooking).

 

When you're in the city, you can always grab a falafel with extra hummus, but I found that not too cheap to do every day.

 

And yes, Mercadona and other good supermarkets have very often non GMO soy milks, but I don't like them since they all tend to have some nasty additives. I liked Orxata de xufes, but no sugar added, it is already sweet enough. But it has not so much protein, only carbs.

 

NOT GOOD THINGS:

It was very hard to find almonds, pumpkin seeds and such stuff that is NOT baked and salted. Since I am a big fan of raw pumpkin seeds and nuts, I hated that. I bought some in VERITAS, but they were expensive as hell.

 

MY GREATEST DISAPPOINTMENT:

When I was in Barcelona before, I liked fruits and vegetables, they were VERY tasty. Last summer, it was total disaster. Nothing had good taste! Even the tomatoes, which are supposed to be Mediterranean specialty were bland, tasteless, terrible... I tried at supermarkets, at Arabian shops, on the marketplaces... always the same tasteless stuff. The only tomato I tasted that was nice was the one sisters friend brought from her own garden. I don't know why was it like that? I mean, I had better tomatoes even in Germany:)

Melocotones, plums, even red peppers were also disastrous... Basically most of the fruit was sold unripe and hard as stone. My only escape were bananas and melons, which were great!

What was interesting, my sister claimed that I am imagining things and that everything tasted pretty good to her. Then, we she came back with me in Serbia, to visit the family, she realized what was I talking about all the time: she was surprised how everything tasted better here. Although, it is harder and harder to find real produce here, too. Food industry is taking over, and everything has to be picked too early, treated with chemicals, etc. But there are still many farmers, and you can buy good fruits and vegetables from them.

 

Sorry for the little off-topic, but that was my impression from the last summer in Barcelona, connected with food:)

[Ruz]

Barcelona is not really anything like the rest of Spain, it's rather like comparing london with the rest of the UK XD. In Cordoba I don't have any problems whatsoever finding raw seeds and nuts, I get them from the "herboristeria" and they aren't too expensive. About the fruit, well in the South we have great fruit and veggies, MUCH better tasting than everything in the UK. We also have "almocafre" (who I believe have stores in Barcelona) who sell only organically produced veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds etc...problem is their prices do tend to be a bit steep. The only thing missing is ready prepared meals for when you just don't have any time! Ohh..and also a BIT of understanding from the Spanish. In the end, I dont have such a problem with being a vegan in Spain, I only have a problem with being a British woman in Spain. If the racism doesn't piss you off then the sexism will get you! Fuckers make my blood boil sometimes!! (well often if I am being honest). I think you can enjoy a visit to Spain if you don't really understand what they are saying..course it's not everyone, but it's still considered "cool" to be racist and sexist by the mayority of the population here..especially in the South and it's ALSO considered hysterically funny to hide little pieces of "jamon" under your veggies when you are not looking...take that one lying down and I'll give you a medal!

These people MADE me a racist!!

[vege]

@Ruz

I understand what you're talking about. I just imagine what you would say here when served fish or lamb as "vegetarian" meal. People here say, usually with frowned face : "Oh, you CAN'T eat meat?" - they always suppose that you have medical, rather then ethical reasons for not eating meat. But they soon cheer up and give you a suggestion: "But you can have some lamb, right? It's not meat!". And their last suggestion is: "OK, so you don't eat meat, they you will have to eat fish, you poor guy..."

Not to talk about my mother who invites me to dinner and gives me non vegan dishes, and when I ask she says: "OK, I just put a little, little, little peace of beef in the soup, and you don't have to eat the meat, just eat the soup!"