Creative Business Inspiration from Spain & Portugal
In 2025 I was lucky enough to embark on a four week holiday travelling around Spain and Portugal with my partner. Apart from the beautiful sunny days by the unbelievably, crystal clear, aqua blue ocean, sipping on Campari spritz and tasting all of the tapas I managed to hunt down and stumble across some of the coolest creative business models and the entrepreneurs behind the concepts along the way.
I’m always inspired when I travel, Australia can be so isolated and limited in our creative thinking at times. Perhaps because of or physical distance from the rest of the world we are less exposed to creative business ideas and ways of thinking that are vital to creating something new and different that will stand out in a crowded market place. It could also be that our much smaller population doesn't always support creative business owners trying something new.
Here are a few of the businesses I loved while travelling and why I thought they stood out…
Silk — Vintage Clothing
A curation of second hand, vintage designer clothes, objects and jewellery in a beautiful curated space. We stumbled across lots of these boutique, independently owned stores that really elevated second hand/vintage shopping experience. Rather than rummaging through racks of clothes to find a gem, we got to experience a high end feeling boutique with one off pieces.
Orval — Coffee shop, Creative Studio and Curated Reads
Coffee shops are rarely just that in Spain and Portugal. Orval is a creative space for artists and makers that also sold magazines, beautiful natural wine (cheap) artisan homewares and delicious coffee. If I wasn’t in a hurry to catch a train the day I found it I imagine it would be the kind of place you hang out for a few hours and meet some of the local makers and spot cool people wearing trendy outfits.
Unagi —Modern Vintage
Another curated vintage/second hand shop that we couldn’t get enough of. The small shopfront was packed with Y2K style vintage clothes and the founder was so generous in sharing his local tips of where to eat, drink and shop while we were in Lisbon. Again, nothing fancy just funky boutique vibes and a friendly shopping experience. We found these vintage places more affordable and once you arrived you knew you were in a cool area that would lead you to more gems in the neighbourhood.
Well Read — Book Shop with Natural Wine
Next door to the previously mentioned Unagi Vintage shop we found their very friendly neighbour Well Read, a book and wine shop. The curation of the book store focused on strong political writing speaking the issues of the time. Stunning magazine which are hard to find in Australia, a friendly owner who was clearly passionate about literature and who served us up some orange wine after we browsed.
Under the Cover —Magazine Shop Lisbon, Portugal
If you’ve been around StartUp Creative for a while you’ll know we used to run a print magazine— I’m a sucker for them! I could have spent hours in this tiny shopfront across the road from the gallery and a beautiful park where we sat and ate our picnic lunch. I love finding places like this because they take you to a part of town that obviously attracts like minded creative people and their creations. Australia is really lacking in magazine shops that are beautifully designed and cover an array of topics.
Rolha Wine Bar, Portugal
We found this wine bar run by a young couple when travelling the Algarve coastline of Portugal a few hours out of Lisbon. The coast line was incredible, the beaches were beautiful and the locals. were so friendly. The south-east of Portugal isn’t far from Morocco so there was a lot of beautiful African references in the food, shopping and people we met. If you find yourself down that way check out Rolha Wine Bar, a small restaurant owned by a a beautiful young couple who recently moved to the area to take over the space. Serving local produce and delicious wine.
La Viniloteca, Palma Spain
After losing our baggage on our flight from Barcelona to Mallorca we were stuck in Palma for a day with no change of clothes and dying to get to the ocean after a busy few weeks in the cities. Alas we made our way around the city (which is much bigger than you expect) and stumbled across this record and wine bar that was off the Main Street. What seemed like a simple shop front was a walk way of sorts that joined to parallel streets. First a record collection, down a few steps to a wine shop, with records playing and through to a street front on the other side where you could sit and enjoy the wines while the owner served us a plate of small sacks, delicious cheese and crackers, of course.
Feira da Ladra (Flea Markets), Lisbon
This market is a must! Full of interesting sellers manning stores that weave up and down the hillside. The energy is high and the potential is limitless. So much shopping to be done and each stall is an experience in and of its own.
Hello Kristof, Lisbon
If you know me, you know coffee is a non-negotiable in my day and when it’s hot finding a cold brew is always high on the agenda. Again with the coffee shops that don’t stop at just coffee, Hello Kristof serves up magazines, snacks and a cool vibe. You’ll find yourself in a cool area with lots of fun shopping near by. While enjoying our coffee we flicked though some local guides and found even more gems to check out on the trip.
Conserveira de Lisboa, Lisbon
A cannery that I read about in another blog and which happened to be all over the city was one of my favourite finds. I love that they keep it simple and just stick to what they know— serving canned fish. The vibes were immaculate and clearly a destination for other tourists who were flocking to the store. We stocked up on cans to take home and have been making the most delicious pasta with the tinned tuna, also a great gift. One of the things this shop does well is that it’s highly Instagramable, a go-to marketing strategy.
Cool fonts I saw—
The street art is Europe is always inspiring to me — tonnes of cool branding/fonts/colours that stood out to me on our daily walks.
Orta —Coffee and Film
Loved this place! Super simple and another great pairing of things we love— film and coffee.
