For a buyer in Barcelona, Indian dehydrated onion and garlic usually arrive at the city's own port and clear there, so the border check, customs entry and delivery to a warehouse in the Llobregat area can all happen within a short distance. The rules are Spanish and EU rules, set out in our guide to importing into Spain.
Arrival through the Port of Barcelona
The Port of Barcelona is one of Spain's main container ports and has a designated border control post for food. Spain ran pilot projects on its new border control model at Barcelona and Algeciras in 2024 before applying it nationally, so local brokers have worked with the current system from the start. Containers from Mundra or Nhava Sheva usually tranship in the Mediterranean and take roughly three to five weeks.
Because the port, the logistics zone and the main food wholesale market, Mercabarna, sit close together near the Llobregat delta, many importers clear goods and store them within a few kilometres of the quay.
Who uses onion and garlic powder in Catalonia
Catalonia is one of Europe's largest pork producing regions, and its meat industry makes fuet, butifarra, sausages and cooked meats. These products use garlic and onion in powder or granule form, often inside a seasoning premix bought from a blender rather than directly. Snack makers, sauce producers and ready meal plants around the city also buy powder, granules and minced onion.
Barcelona also hosts Alimentaria, one of Europe's large food trade fairs, which is a common place to meet Spanish seasoning blenders and distributors. If you supply a blender, ask early whether its own customers need EU-limit test reports per lot, because many do.
Garlic in a garlic-growing country
Spain grows a great deal of fresh garlic, but most of it is sold fresh. Catalan meat processors still buy dried garlic as an ingredient, and Indian garlic is a fair second source for that use. Test its pungency and colour in your own recipe before switching.
Climate and storage
Barcelona's summers are warm and humid, and port warehouses near the sea can hold damp air. Onion powder picks up moisture quickly and cakes. Specify lined cartons or bags with a sealed inner liner, keep stock off the floor and away from walls, and avoid long storage in unconditioned units in July and August. Our note on how to prevent onion powder caking explains the limits to set.
Labels
Retail packs must carry the mandatory food information in Spanish. Catalonia's consumer code also expects certain consumer information in Catalan, so if you pack for Catalan retail, check the current requirement with a local adviser. Bulk ingredient sales to factories mostly need correct commercial documents rather than consumer labels.
Elsewhere in Spain
If you also supply central Spain, read our guide for Valencia, the usual sea route to Madrid.
How Creston helps
We audit Indian plants, have every lot tested at an NABL-accredited lab to EU limits, supervise loading in Gujarat and check documents before departure, for one written fee agreed in advance. See our dehydrated onion sourcing page, then book a free sourcing review.