The Book
Cupboard

The Costa Brava's leading
English bookshop
Established 2003, closed 2009

Browse books in stock

15 YEARS OF THE BOOK CUPBOARD

At the time, proprietor Kevin Allcoat and his wife, Carol, operated a small publishing and printing business from there and the book shop was a natural extension to it.

The shop was closed in September 1996 shortly after Kevin took over Tarka Books in Barnstaple, a much bigger shop of 100 sq.m. As the new owner there, he survived the coming and going of several other bookshops, partially helped by the selling of books online.

With the growing influence of the internet, Kevin launched Searchingforabook.com. Without the need for a fixed base of operations business continued to be transacted during the family move to Catalonia in 2001. Staff kept the shop going for several months and Tarka Books was finally sold as a going concern in the summer of 2002.

The new Book Cupboard, Lloret de Mar, opened on 1st March 2003 with 30 sq.m. of space in Carrer St Albert. It was decided to reuse the name owing to its relatively small size.

After two further years the move was made to the new premises in Carrer Rector Coch, directly behind the town's central church.

The third incarnation of The Book Cupboard is a little smaller than the previous store (just 25 sq.m) and reflects the

continues ...

Outside the Book Cupboard, 2003

The Book Cupboard 2008

bijou nature of the original better than that in C/ St Albert. But with over 6000 books on the shelves, there is still plenty to choose from. A further 4000 books are kept in storage and can be obtained at very short notice.

In keeping with Kevin's tried and tested methods at Tarka Books, The Book Cupboard stocks secondhand & new books, primarily English, for the collector, for the gift buyer and for the casual reader, on holiday or at home. New books in print can be ordered from England in 7-10 days and specialist orders for books out of print can be obtained upon request.

The internet name of Searchingforabook.com still continues, though there is no longer a unique website, all mail order operations being undertaken by The Book Cupboard.

Holidaymakers planning to visit the area who don't want to be weighed down on a limited baggage allowance may pre-order and/or reserve books for when they arrive. Please email ahead. What isn't already in stock can be ordered in, given enough advance notice.

The shop stock also includes a good range of secondhand Spanish language books, not to mention Catalan, German, Russian, Italian and other language titles. Some of these are listed for sale within the catalogue (see non-English language books).

The shop closed its doors for its final day of trading in October 2009. Lloret de Mar will be blessed with the replacement shop in 2010 under the name of BUSCO BOOKS.

Page update 2 December 2009, by Kevin Allcoat