Tag Archives: el corte ingles

adios m&s

09 Wednesday Apr 2025

Posted by in retail therapy, sevilla, shopping

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I remember when I first moved here and being thrilled to find that there was a Marks & Spencer right next to the main El Corte Inglés. After more than a year in beautiful but eensy Salamanca this felt like the height of cosmopolitan sophistication. Ever since my Toronto days M&S was always THE place for underwear and also comfy clothing in general. Sadly the M&S closed here after a few years and then I used to actually plan trips to Gibraltar to stock up. Then came online shopping – bliss! – and I had a steady supply of knickers and bras at my fingertips. But I dunno… the past few years both quality and selection has suffered, to the point where this week I was actually forced to go out and shop for new bras locally (!!!).

El Corte Inglés of course. Simply because I can take stuff home to try on and return it no questions asked. It was pretty slim pickings there too as I was looking for non-underwired but eventually a helpful salesperson showed me this one and I was sold. Front closure is a bit of a faff but once it’s on… wow, talk about comfortable. Bought one black, one cream and now I’m set for the summer. Sorry to see M&S go, but it seems to have gone the cheap “fast fashion” route, not for me.

over-packaging

27 Tuesday Aug 2019

Posted by in casa azahar, cats

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Used to be that I could combine orders from El Corte Inglés supermarket and their pet supply section, but suddenly I am no longer allowed to do this. It used to be handy because I could stock up on cat sand and other bulk items. Now I have to order the cat stuff separately, and it’s delivered via MRW Messenger, not the regular Corte Inglés delivery service. This means that that I can no longer choose a time frame to receive deliveries, like I can from the supermarket (mornings or afternoons of a specific day). Instead the delivery guy calls when he is ten minutes away to say he is coming… and well, I could be anywhere. Like today – in bed!

Also, look at this fucking packaging! One huge cardboard box for each bag of cat sand, stuffed with those plastic air-filled packing bags. Ridiculous. When it used to come via Corte Inglés, okay they’d use a plastic bag, but they could stuff two bags of cat sand into each one and I would re-use that bag for rubbish another time. I can’t re-use these boxes for anything. The only positive side is that the cats get an afternoon of fun playing with the boxes…

jueves de cata

10 Saturday Feb 2018

Posted by in events, sevilla, sherry, wine

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The Corte Inglés Gourmet Experience and Probando Wines have put together a series of “jueves de cata” wine tastings, and the first one was this beautiful selection from Bodegas Diez Mérito. While all the sherries were outstanding, the VORS Fino Imperial amontillado totally blew me away. It was a very relaxed event, led by Fran León, and was followed by a sampling of sushi from Sushi Spot Corner, which we didn’t stay for. But hoping to catch the next tasting!

so want this sofa

22 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by in home, retail therapy

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sofaA few months ago I saw this sofa in the window of El Corte Inglés and I WANTED IT. I mean, it’s nothing terribly exciting, but I love its simplicity and clean lines. But I also know that no soft furnishings would ever last around here. What’s weird is that I have never actually wanted a sofa before, precisely for this reason. At present an old IKEA sofa bed still serves in the living room, along with a second-hand arm chair, both of which are covered in cotton throws (as is my wheelie office chair). And in spite of being covered they are all ripped to shreds.

Anyhow, I was walking by El Corte Inglés again the other day and saw that my dream sofa has a matching chair!!! Waaaah!