No quería un souvenir caro; me bastaba con una taza sencilla del barrio antiguo.

Quería is the imperfect of querer, and here it gives a background idea: I didn’t want / I wasn’t looking for / I had no desire for an expensive souvenir.

A native English speaker often expects a simple past, but Spanish makes a distinction:

• No quería un souvenir caro = I didn’t want an expensive souvenir / I wasn’t after one.
• No quise un souvenir caro = I refused or decided not to want one at a specific moment.

In this sentence, quería sounds more natural because it describes the speaker’s general attitude at that time, not one single completed decision.

Bastar means to be enough or to suffice.

So:

• me bastaba = it was enough for me
• con una taza sencilla = with / just a simple mug

Put together:

• me bastaba con una taza sencilla = a simple mug was enough for me / I was satisfied with just a simple mug

This is a very common structure in Spanish:

• Me basta con eso = That’s enough for me.
• Nos bastaba con poco = Very little was enough for us.

The me shows for whom something was enough.

Compare:

• Bastaba = it was enough
• Me bastaba = it was enough for me
• Le bastaba = it was enough for him / her

So in the sentence, me is an indirect object pronoun.

A literal breakdown would be something like:

• No quería un souvenir caro; me bastaba con una taza sencilla...
• I didn’t want an expensive souvenir; a simple mug was enough for me...

Because bastar con is the usual pattern when you say what is sufficient.

Examples:

• Me basta con un café. = A coffee is enough for me.
• Nos bastaba con mirar. = Just looking was enough for us.
• Le bastó con llamarme una vez. = It only took one call to me / One call was enough for him or her.

So con una taza sencilla means with just a simple mug or more naturally a simple mug was enough.

Yes, souvenir is used in Spanish, including in Spain, especially in tourist contexts. It is a borrowed word from French, but it is very common.

That said, recuerdo is also perfectly possible and often more neutral or more traditionally Spanish:

• un souvenir caro
• un recuerdo caro

Both can work. In everyday tourist-shop language, souvenir sounds very natural.

Also, souvenir is normally treated as masculine:

• un souvenir
• los souvenirs

In Spanish, descriptive adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• un souvenir caro = an expensive souvenir
• una taza sencilla = a simple mug

Putting the adjective before the noun is sometimes possible, but it often sounds literary, emphatic, or changes the nuance. For a basic description, post-noun position is the normal choice.

Sencilla means simple, plain, or unfussy.

In this sentence, it suggests something modest and unpretentious, not luxurious. It has a positive or neutral feel here: the speaker did not need anything fancy.

It is slightly different from some other words:

• simple can also mean plain, but sometimes it can sound a bit blunt.
• sencilla often feels warmer, more natural, and more elegant in this kind of sentence.

So una taza sencilla suggests a plain, modest, simple mug.

It most naturally describes taza.

So the idea is:

• a simple mug from the old quarter / old neighbourhood

In other words, it is a mug that comes from that area, probably bought there or typical of that place.

Grammatically, del barrio antiguo is a prepositional phrase attached to una taza sencilla.

Because in Spanish, de + el contracts to del.

So:

• de + el barrio antiguo → del barrio antiguo

This contraction is required, except when el is part of a proper name:

• del barrio
• but de El Escorial

So in your sentence, del barrio antiguo is simply the normal contraction.

It can, depending on context, but it is not always the most fixed expression.

• barrio antiguo literally means old neighbourhood or old quarter
• In Spain, a very common expression for the historic centre is casco antiguo

So these are possible interpretations:

• del barrio antiguo = from the old neighbourhood / old quarter
• del casco antiguo = from the old town / historic centre

Your sentence is understandable as written, but a learner should know that casco antiguo is often the more idiomatic expression for old town in Spain.

The semicolon links two closely related ideas:

• No quería un souvenir caro
• me bastaba con una taza sencilla del barrio antiguo

The second clause explains or contrasts with the first: the speaker did not want something expensive; a simple item was enough.

In English, you might also use:

• a semicolon
• a dash
• or split it into two sentences

Spanish uses semicolons in much the same way here.

Yes. You could say:

• No quería un souvenir caro; me bastaba con solo una taza sencilla del barrio antiguo.
• No quería un souvenir caro; me bastaba con una sola taza sencilla del barrio antiguo.

These add emphasis to the idea of just a simple mug.

However, the original sentence already sounds natural without them. Spanish often leaves just implied when the context already makes it clear.

Yes, but the style and nuance are a little different.

• Me bastaba con una taza sencilla = a simple mug was enough for me
• Una taza sencilla era suficiente para mí = a simple mug was sufficient for me

Both are correct, but me bastaba con sounds more idiomatic and natural in everyday Spanish.

It is also a very useful pattern to learn because Spanish uses bastar often.

Spanish usually does not include the subject pronoun unless it is needed for emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

So:

• No quería already means I didn’t want
• Yo no quería would add emphasis, like I didn’t want one
• No quería yo sounds more marked and stylistic

Since the verb form quería already tells us the subject is I, the pronoun is omitted in the normal way.

It sounds like a description of a general attitude or state in the past, not a single punctual event.

That is mainly because of the imperfect forms:

• quería
• bastaba

Together they create a background tone:

• I wasn’t looking for anything expensive;
• a simple mug from the old quarter was enough for me.

If the speaker wanted to present it more as a completed decision at a specific moment, different past forms might be chosen.