What does a local breakfast look like in Barcelona?
A proper Barcelona breakfast is a small, fast affair eaten at a bar counter, not a leisurely spread. The standard is pa amb tomàquet — bread rubbed with fresh tomato and olive oil, often topped with jamón or cheese — paired with a café amb llet (espresso with warm milk) or a cortado. You'll see this at almost any neighbourhood bar from about 8 to 10am for roughly 3–5 euros. Locals eat standing up, exchange a few words with the barman, and leave. Spots in the Eixample and Gràcia tend to be less touristy than anything on or near Las Ramblas. A croissant or a plain ensaïmada pastry also appears regularly, though the tomato bread is the Catalan default. Orange juice is freshly squeezed almost everywhere and costs about 2 euros. The whole ritual takes fifteen minutes. Sit-down brunch with avocado toast exists, but that's for tourists and transplants, not the people who actually live there.
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