Merlín e Familia: a magical little shop in Santiago de Compostela

You didn't walk all the way to Santiago de Compostela for the shopping, but it would be a shame to leave with nothing more than a scallop shell on a magnet. How about a designer porcelain cup, a one-of-a-kind plate, or an art print?

In the very heart of the old town you'll find Merlín e Familia — a shop where Galician and Spanish ceramics sit alongside graphic art, and where every piece comes with a story behind it: a national award won by its maker, a collaboration with a museum, or a commission from a Michelin-starred restaurant.

The shop's founder, Patricia Pazos, borrowed its name from a novel by the Galician writer Álvaro Cunqueiro, in which the wizard Merlin lives in the Galician countryside while travellers come to him from all over the world, some seeking advice, others looking for help.

Travellers are no rarity in Patricia's shop either: they arrive here at the end of the Camino de Santiago, whose final point is just a couple of minutes away.

Handmade Galician ceramics

What you'll find at Merlín e Familia isn't sold in any other shop in the city, and much of it isn't sold anywhere at all.

Take the ceramics of Paula Ojea, winner of the 2019 National Craft Award: they grace Galicia's fine-dining restaurants but are sold nowhere except Merlín e Familia.

The pieces here look as fragile as paper, though that's only an illusion. Her signature technique is creating fabric textures on porcelain so precise that every piece seems as though it could crumple in your hands.

Exclusive handmade ceramics — plates, basins, mugs, jugs and planters — form the core of the collection.

Buyers from all over the world are especially fond of the work of Eva Hernández, a Galician ceramist from Vigo. Her hand-painted tableware decorated with exotic animals is completely unique: no two pieces are ever the same.

The tableware of local artisan Laura Delgado and the family workshop Cerámica Suve decorates Michelin-starred restaurants across Galicia, yet you can buy it only here, at Merlín e Familia.

Spanish artisan ceramics and a Japanese touch

The shop's reach doesn't stop at Galicia.

Silvia Valentín from Madrid has exhibited her organic sculpture-like ceramics at Milan Design Week, while her work has appeared in leading architecture magazines. Outside occasional exhibitions, however, the only place to buy her pieces is Patricia's shop.

The same is true of Manuel Sánchez Algora, a third-generation ceramist whose work has been shown in a prestigious Milan gallery and at a ceramics exhibition in Brussels before finding a home here.

Then there's Yukiko Kitahara, a Japanese ceramist long settled in Seville and a recipient of Spain's National Craft Award.

Her delicate porcelain featuring tiny animal figures can be found either here or in major art museums — including Madrid's Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

Graphic art and prints in Santiago de Compostela

If ceramics aren't your thing, take a look at an entire wall devoted to original graphic art and prints.

You'll find reproductions by Sonia Pulido, the Catalan illustrator who received Spain's National Illustration Award in 2020. After many years illustrating for El País, she now works for The New Yorker and designs book covers.

Alongside them are prints and postcards by leading Spanish illustrators, as well as books in Galician and Spanish, vinyl records by local musicians, jewellery, accessories and beautifully designed stationery.

Where to buy ceramics and prints in Santiago de Compostela

Merlín e Familia is located on Rúa Nova, one of the main streets of Santiago's old town, connecting the Cathedral of Saint James with the covered Mercado de Abastos, where locals shop for groceries and knowledgeable travellers come for the freshest Galician cuisine.

The shop carries the Artesanía de Galicia seal — the official regional mark certifying authentic Galician craftsmanship.

Whether you've just completed the Camino or are simply exploring the old town, it's well worth stepping inside: the selection changes constantly, and the most beautiful pieces rarely stay in the display window — or on the shelves — for long.