Your shopping guide to the best local stores: Barcelona

Next time you get off at Jaume I metro stop, make sure you visit Formatgeria La Seu, which specializes in Spanish-only farm cheese. Run by Scottish-born Katherine McLaughlin, every single one of the 25 different cheeses stocked here are hand-picked by the owner herself. In 2000, Katherine opened her Formatgeria in a renovated butter factory of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter. She visits about every single farm before showcasing their produce. The selection process: cheese must be hand-crafted and produced in limited numbers by independent farmers. Once in the store, each cheese is wrapped by hand, never vacuum-packed. You can buy classics like Manchego and Cabrales, or the less common Tupí, produced in the Catalan Pyrenees. If your thing is runny, milky cheese, make sure you pick up a Torta de la Serena, a sheep cheese with an intense taste perfect for spreading on rustic bread. For the undecided, the store includes a tasting room. Katherine’s passion for cheese doesn’t stop here. Merging cheese with homemade ice cream, she has created a unique product named Formatgelat. Try it with nuts, honey or sultanas.