Malaga Sin Gluten
Gluten free travel in Spain can be difficult. Outside of major cities it’s not easy to get a great selection of gluten free products. And forget about bakeries!
In major cities (like Madrid and Barcelona) you can usually find a few, but even there the options are limited. However, though Malaga is a small city, it has really embraced the global trend towards eating more bio/eco/organic foods. This, in turn, has helped the GF & healthy food scene here, making living gluten-free in Malaga much easier!
Besides the few specially dedicated gluten-free bakeries and the naturally gluten-free (raw, macro etc) bakeries and cafes in Malaga you also have a small handful of vegan/vegetarian bakeries or cafes as well as bio shops and even a couple of outdoor bio or eco markets (held once or twice a month in certain locations).
For the purpose of this post, I’m limiting this list to 100% gluten-free bakeries. Málaga sin Gluten! You can expect more posts to come on organic/bio/vegan cafes and restaurants with great GF options as well as on the local bio and eco markets.
Macrodulces La Espiral
Macrodulces are as guilt free as treating yourself to something delicious can get! Gluten-free or otherwise. No sugars, no refined flours, no dairy, no eggs. Just fruits, nuts and some dehydrated grains make up these deliciously healthy and naturally gluten-free and vegan treats.
They typically have a few different options including some sort of cakes (carrot, pumpkin, spice or other), various fruit tarts (apple, pear, lemon…) and chocolatey goodies (brownie or cake type concoction made with pure cocoa).
100% of products here are naturally gluten-free and vegan and refined sugar free since they are macro products.
*Try their delicious rice drink (made from rice and spices and sweetened with dried fruits). Sort of like horchata, but so much better because of the high quality natural ingredients and no refined sugar.
Where?
Located within a few minutes walk from the center of Malaga.
Address: Calle dos Aceras, 24, 29012 Málaga
Phone: 660 95 21 06
CLOSED SUNDAYS (and daily during Spanish lunch hours)
El Pastelero Real
Your gluten-free (sin gluten) life in Malaga is not complete until you have tasted the goodness that is El Pastelero Real.
First off, no need to ask which items are gluten-free. This is a 100% gluten-free bakery. And one that actually has savory as well as sweet products. No, you are not dreaming. Hallelujah. Unless you are in Madrid or Barcelona (well even in those cities let’s be honest) it is not an easy feat to find a bakery that makes fresh gluten free BREAD (that’s not heavy as a rock and as dry as a pile of chalk dust) or savory products (not just sweets) in Spain and doesn’t charge an arm and a leg for it.
Their bread selection isn’t huge. Normally you’ll see one white bread and one buckwheat option and maybe just small sandwich size rolls, no baguettes or other types of heartier fare (though they may have had in the past because they still have an old menu up with lots of options on it that no longer exist). The buckwheat option is not as ‘integral’ as I’d like but when it’s hot as hell outside do you think I’m baking my own bread at home? Nope.
The real specialty of El Pastelero however, is the not-so-light stuff. The gluten free donuts (heaven), cakes, tarts and pastries. Also, depending on the day you visit (and at what time of day you visit) El Pastelero normally has a big, freshly baked empanada (priced very reasonably- by the kilo which comes out to a couple of Euros for a normal size piece) or a couple of pizza options. I have walked all the way across town just to come here and get that ‘normal person’ feeling of grabbing an empanada or piece of pizza for lunch and eating it while I walk. It feels great!
El Pastelero opens most days by 9:30 am but they don’t have seating so it’s more of a grab your order and go type place. I’ll bet you 5 Euros you don’t make it home before taking a bite out of something.
Where?
Located on the other side of the river, about a 10 minute walk from center.
Address: Pasaje San Fernando,6, (frente bar almijara), 29002 Málaga
Phone: 951 15 39 32
CLOSED SUNDAYS
Nata & Chocolate Gluten Free Bakery
ANOTHER 100 % gluten-free bakery!
This one is a bit further from the center but is close to Malagueta.
What you will find at Nata & Chocolate: They specialize in cakes (and they are lovely!) but if you go early in day you may also find freshly baked pizza and/or empanada. They also bake chapata bread some days, but I’d recommend calling advance to see if they have any before heading in (phone number below). There are a couple of other small white bread roll options as well.
If you aren’t gluten-free but have a gluten-free partner or kid this is a great spot for you to go and get them a birthday cake or something for a special day. Or maybe just something special for a regular day….
Address: Paseo de Sancha, 10 (1.14 mi) Málaga, Spain 29016
Phone: 629 11 13 65
OPEN SUNDAYS (but closed during Spanish lunch hours like most places)
Golosas Sin Gluten
NOTE: NOT CLOSE TO CENTER
This spot isn’t near the center and is too far to justify walking to considering the other closer options but if you are living in Malaga (versus visiting) nearish to the Marmoles area this might be your closest gluten-free bakery. Depends on which side of Marmoles you live or which barrio nearby. El Pastelero (listed above) is quite close to the El Corte Ingles (in Marmoles) so it might be a bit closer.
The good news is if you live on the other side of the ‘river’ (I use quotations since there is no water in this river bed) you’ve got two 100% gluten-free bakery options!
They have lots of gluten free sweets and goodies.
Address: Calle Sondalezas, 12, 29010 Málaga
Phone: 653 93 95 01
CLOSED SUNDAYS
I love that Nata & Chocolate Gluten Free Bakery is so diverse in what they serve – cakes, pizzas, empanadas – they seem to have it all! Quick questions, do they serve chocolate (I know it’s in the store title but I was wondering if they serve chocolate-flavoured delights or truffles and that sort of thing)? I’ve never heard of Rice Milk but I would love to try some at Macrodulces La Espiral.
Hi Anshula-
they do not sell chocolates no. Just baked goodies.
The rice milk is a non dairy version of a Spanish classic which is typically made with cow’s milk (and very sweet):)
I never knew there were so many gluten free bakeries in Malaga! I have such a sweet tooth so my first stop would be El Pastelero Real! It sounds so good, and nice to know the gluten free bread isn’t rock hard either. I love empanadas so would more than likely get a few from Nata y Chocolate too!
Love that there are so many Gluten free options for foodies like me. It’s catching on in India too. would love more such bakery here too! Great concept!
Omg I am totally drooling thinking about all the delicious gluten-free desserts that you can find in Malaga. It’s so nice to see that a small (ish) city like Malaga does embrace this lifestyle. El Pastelero Real sounds absolutely divine and I totally would love to try their donuts…especially since you describe them as heaven! Plus its 100% gluten free so it totally makes it so much easier to pick. I do also love the sounds of freshly baked gluten-free pizza that you’ll get at Nata & Chocolate.
I haven’t been to Malaga but the food you recommend here sure looks delicious. Thanks for the great write-up on and info. It will surely be helpful for those in search of gluten free bakeries around that area.
You’ve done so well to find bakeries that have made the allowance to create GF goods – Spain really isn’t known for that. (I know because I live here!) And I thought they had made progress by just including gluten free stuff in the supermarkets!
Next time i’m in Malaga I’m going to be eating all the GF goodies!
I find Macrodulces La Espiral most appealing! Though I am not gluten intolerant, but I like eating gluten free dishes as those are often healthier. The best part is the food here is vegan and refined sugar free. Being a vegetarian (not vegan), it sounds good to me. I would surely want to try the rice drink. Looks like it is an exotic drink!!.
Thanks for this! My parents just bought an apartment in Spain and want to travel through the country as well but my mom recently discovered that her body doesn’t like gluten so this is perfect for her! I will let her now asap 🙂
I will also check up on your upcoming blogs as well!
It’s a great post to share specially for people who need the option. You would normally expect this in the larger cities like Madrid and Barcelona but finding it in Malaga is a great result. The products look delicious and a great treat for the non gluten free as well. My favourite would be the Nata with the cakes as well as pizza. Thanks for sharing a great post.
Hi Vicki
yes it’s true that the fact they finally have decent gluten-free sections in supermarkets IS huge progress. 10 years ago-this was definitely not the case! In Italy either (I lived there for one year 13 years ago). Unfortunately in small towns it still isn’t the case. When I went to Galicia (to a city -but not a major city) with my fiancee for instance he told me to bring everything with me. and for good reason. The same has happened to me in places in Italy that aren’t in major cities or tourism regions. The options disappear.
but in cities-especially at major supermarkets like El Corte Ingles hipermercado they have a LOT of products. At some small herbolarios they do pretty well in big cities as well. There are a couple good herbolarios in Malaga that have a good selection of bio/eco type products including Gf products.
That said, I usually only want whole grain bread. And To find a whole grain loaf of gluten-free bread is liking finding a needle in a hay stack. if you do find a place doing it-it’s typically obscenely expensive. The lady at the macrodulces place for instance bakes whole grain gluten free bread a couple of days a week but the prices are so ridiculous I didn’t include that in this post. To pay 8 Euros for a small loaf of bread is just not acceptable. If it is a whole grain normal bread loaf (with good stuff like spelt or kamut) you’d only pay 2- 3.
I found 1 place in Madrid doing whole grain also-and charging 12 Euros for a loaf. Oof! I can pay 1/2 of that and get a great loaf in California. and less than half that and get a great loaf at a health/Bio store in France (often they have people deliver fresh gluten-free bread a few days a week) or Prague or Italy (though very difficult to find in Italy-when you do find it’s not 8 euros a loaf!)
For this reason-I make most of my own bread at home.
But the ability to go and pick up a pastry or a pizza slice once and a while is super nice so I’m grateful this is starting to become more common in Spain. I just hope we’ll see them instituting some grains and more creativity into their GF baking in future.