It’s simple. Spanish supermarkets are infinitely superior to UK ones.

There are no chilled and frozen aisles heaving with ready meals and fish fingers, and the fresh produce is not only affordable, it gratifyingly comes in all colours, shapes and sizes, no matter how knobbly or unattractive.

A supermarket really is my favourite place to check out, wherever I travel. It gives an insight into the culture, the types of food people enjoy and how they shop. As a marketeer it’s a fascination for me and as a food geek, even more so.

On the first day of our trip to Alicante, the first thing I’m itching to do is hit the Carrefour to check out all my favourite goodies. So that is exactly what we did.  
In a town near Alicante we found the stuff dreams for foodies are made of. A hypermart Carrefour stocked quite literally to the rafters with delicious fresh produce.

We considered buying extra luggage to bring home legs of cured jamon. We stared at rows of freshly baked unusual breads from different regions, not sure which to try first. We stocked up on delicious bottles of Rioja and Don Simon sangria (still a favourite from my time living in Spain). And we cried over the beautiful tomatoes, some green, some red, and most irregularly shaped.

It might not be organic, farm fresh, fairtrade or any other label. But this, my friends, is living.