The century-old pastry shop Ideal closes: goodbye to one of Barcelona's best sweets

BarcelonaBarcelona is about to lose another historic business. If nothing prevents it, the century-old Ideal pastry shop in Vila de Gràcia will close its doors on May 31st. The retirement of Lluís Álvarez—who, along with his brother Miquel Àngel, represents the third generation of the family to run the business—will mark the end of an establishment that has been an emblem of the city since it opened in 1919. And yet another blow to the commercial fabric of a neighborhood that already includes Camps hardware store and Tarragona haberdashery, among others.

In this case, the reason behind the closure is the lack of a successor. With Lluís's retirement, Miquel Àngel—who is already in high demand as a pastry chef—doesn't feel up to running the business alone. For this reason, for the past six months, they have been trying to find someone who wants to keep Ideal open when they are gone. So far, they haven't made any progress. They have received visits, but no firm offers. "It's hard to find people willing to work the hours this job requires," they point out. "And some young people who have shown real interest in taking it over can't get the money to cover the transfer fee," they add.

Although they're losing optimism as the closing date approaches, they still hope to find someone who wants to continue the pastry shop. The business is clearly doing well. Lluís and Miquel Àngel keep serving customers while they tell the story behind their farewell. As they talk, they hand out Easter cakes, make coffees, and deliver bad news to the last customers of the day who come to the shop hoping to still find some of their legendary cream-filled pastries. "They ran out a little while ago," they lament. This sweet treat—which they fill very generously at Ideal and which came second in the 2019 World's Best Cream-Filled Pastry Competition—has been the pastry shop's icon ever since.

The 2022 Fire

The hard work of these two brothers has also allowed the pastry shop to withstand the onslaught of bakery and pastry chains that have long since taken over the neighborhood. Their clientele is loyal. They proved this in 2022, when a short circuit in the back room caused a fire that almost forced them to close their doors for good. Back then, the neighborhood rallied to help them. Three months and a renovation later, they were able to reopen the business, which has continued to serve breakfasts and afternoon snacks to the children from the school across the street, who often stop by for a bite.

Now they hope to repeat that happy ending. While the Álvarez family will no longer be running the business that their grandfather Miquel opened in 1919 and that was kept afloat first by Jordi and Maria Lluïsa and then by their children, they are confident that someone else will take the reins of Ideal. All this so that Barcelona doesn't also have to mourn the loss of this century-old pastry shop and those pastries that could be a world heritage item are lost.