Latest posts by Martin Moodie (see all)
- From Lisbon to Lon Y Coed and on to Hong Kong - January 4, 2026
- Mundo Fantástico da Sardinha Portuguesa – where “the sardine is queen” - December 18, 2025
- In memory of Roopa, a Mitti Café and travel retail heroine - November 23, 2025
I think I may have just shopped in the best speciality store in the airport world.
It might also rank as the most colourful, exuberant and surprising I have encountered. And it almost certainly has the longest name.
The shop is located at Humberto Delgado Airport – gateway to Lisbon, Portugal – from whence I flew to Paris Orly Airport yesterday (17 December). And having been mightily impressed by (and shopped in) the ARI-run Lisbon Duty Free offer, especially its superb destination merchandise proposition (look out for my report in coming days), I was drawn from afar to the magical encounter that serves as the subject of this blog.
Welcome to Mundo Fantástico da Sardinha Portuguesa – The Fantastic World of Portuguese Sardines. A space where, to quote the airport company, “the sardine is queen”.
Oh what a reign this national symbol of Portuguese history is enjoying, the boutique a technicolour tapestry, including a wonderfully wacky moving ferris wheel carrying not passengers but tins of sardines.
One wall is dedicated to tins adorned with different years going way, way back. I say that with confidence as the array includes my birth year, which just about places the said tins in the realm of ancient history.
“So there’s actual sardines in the tin?” I asked the friendly shop assistant, thinking they may be fish-less souvenirs.
“Oh yes,” she said, assuring me the contents were all ready for consumption (and probably thinking they had aged much better than the purchaser).
I ended up buying two more tins, each bearing the birth years (most definitely not to be revealed but I knew what was on their Christmas fish-lists) of my wife Yulim and The Moodie Davitt Report Publisher Irene Revilla, whom I was joining in Paris for two days of brand meetings.
And get this. Each of these delightfully quirky gifts cost just €9 (sorry, Irene, but it’s the thought that counts) and as any Portuguese national will tell you, the contents are good for your health. Sardines may have been a national staple for centuries in Portugal but here they are simply and wonderfully accessible luxury. ✈
