Spanish holiday avoiding gluten

[Pelvicflooragogo]

Hi all,
We've got our first family holiday abroad (Lanzarote) since my DD (aged 3)was diagnosed with coeliac disease last year. I've got the Coeliac.org sheets and the multi-lingual phrase passport but am still quite nervous about us eating out. We are doing half board and the hotel has said to speak to the chef when we arrive and they can cater for her but I'm not used to the lack of control and trying to communicate using a different language.

Any tips for people who've been there before? Thanks.

#anxiousmum

[freefrommum]

We have a house in mainland Spain and our DD is coeliac and DS has multiple food allergies. We find Spain to be pretty good for coeliacs as lots of 'normal' food items (eg crisps) state that they are gluten free: sin gluten. Most big supermarkets have freefrom sections just like over here. Look out for Schar which is the same company as Glutafin and Dietary Specials: www.schaer.com/en/. As for eating out, they do seem to be quite aware of coeliacs in general but, much like in the UK, this does vary from place to place so you definitely need to make sure that the staff understand you. You can print off allergy/coeliac cards in various languages for free on the internet eg: www.celiactravel.com/cards/spanish/ and hand one of these to the waiter/ess each time you eat out. I do have the advantage of speaking Spanish so this is easier for us but somewhere like Lanzarote should be ok as the majority of people working there speak English (where we go in Spain, hardly anyone speaks English).

[notapizzaeater]

We went all inclusive to fuertuventura this summer - I was dreading it but it was fine - he gets glutened more often by school here than we did there. People seemed very aware, we were selective at the buffet and if I was unsure they cooked something fresh. We Ate out a couple of times and was always ok. The supermarkets (big ones) had a. Good selection of foods, far more than here (was surprised I was to excessive luggage on way home with all the stuff I'd bought but never seen in England)

Highlight for DS was gluten free cornettos in the supermarket !!

[Pelvicflooragogo]

Thanks - very reassuring. I think once we've done it I'll find it very liberating and am thinking about booking a trip to Sardinia in the summer. USeful about crisps -cornettos really wow?!

freefrom do you know if paellas tend to be made with GF stock?

[freefrommum]

No idea sorry, not something my DD would ever ever eat sadly (I loooove paella, especially with seafood!).

[Maz007]

A friend of mine from Spain who has a cealiac DD recommended this page which gathers together gluten-free friendly places to eat out all over Spain... language may be an issue, but I'm sure a few of us will be able to help if you think it will be useful.

Have a great time!

[Maz007]

here is the Lanzarote listing which is probably more useful for you.

[freefrommum]

That's really useful, thanks Maz! Here's another useful website for coeliac travellers: www.glutenfreeroads.com/en/ It shows places to eat out, places to stay and places to shop. If you type in Lanzarote in the search engine you'll see a number of supermarkets that sell Schar gf products.

[Pelvicflooragogo]

Ah that's really useful thank you. I'm very reassured that the hotel we are staying at is included in both sites. Hopefully the hotel will give us advice too.

Will let you know how her ladyship fares!