Your shopping guide to the best local stores: Barcelona

Located just around the corner from the Picasso Museum in the trendy Born district, Almacen Marabi displays its rainbow-hued wares against a backdrop of warm tones and soft lights. Handmade rag dolls and patchwork figures of all shapes and sizes fill the small store with life and color. Born in Argentina, owner Mariela Marabi studied Fine Art and always took an interest in sculpture. Her quirky designs for textile dolls and puppets pushed the boundaries of what sculpture could be. She dreamed of having her own work space and finally got her wish in 2001, when she opened Almacen Marabi - not just a workshop, but a stage to exhibit and sell her pieces directly. Almacen Marabit stocks Mariela’s soft fabric wallets, felt rings, brooches and keyrings, but it’s the dolls and animals which really shine. Not just for children, figures range from colorful giraffes, anteaters, penguins, and even a life-size kangaroo, to cheeky - and anatomically correct - nude figures.