The most interesting markets of Barcelona
A city without markets is a place without colors and smells, after all they represent the sense of the city. Barcelona has about 43 markets spread in all its districts and majority of them are only food. They are very great places to visit if you want to know a little more about the life of its citizens and to merge with its culture. You will discover local products, products that you can find in your country but not here and viceversa. Also you will smell and taste them to find out that they have less or more savor. Of course, I’m not going to tell you about all the market in the city but some interesting ones that it is worth to take a look. |
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I will start by the most famous one, la boqueria (la rambla 89), also known as the sant josep market. Here you will find mainly foods (vegetables, fishes, fruits, meats…) and some bars to lunch those fresh products. Its existence dates from the 13th century but the building has been built during the 19th century after to demolish the former Sant Josep convent.
The llibertat market (plaza llibertat) is located in Gracia, one of the most popular districts of Barcelona. Inaugurated in 1888, it is a simple one but it owns a great heritage value for the city.
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The galvany market (calle santaló 65) is one of the most beautiful markets built between 1868 and 1927 after that the count of Galvany ceded a section of his land. The interesting thing is that it has been declared as artistic monument by the City Hall. The born market (plaza comercial) has been built in 1876 but during the 1980s, it has been used as a place for exhibition. In 2002, during its renovation, some medieval remains were found and in 2006, the catalan government declared it as cultural property of national interest. |
The sant antoni market (ronda sant antoni 18) is one of the biggest markets of the city built in 1872 where you will find 3 different sections: foods, clothes and books. Like you can guess, it is not the place to go if you want to buy brands like Mango, Zara, Chanel…
The antiquary market is situated in front of the Columbus statue, just near to the harbor. Although it is small, you can find things that may interest you and every weekend, on the catedral avenue, in front of the cathedral of Barcelona, there is a bigger one.
The concepció market (calle aragó 311), like the Gràcia one, is a simple market but what I like the most it is its plant section because it is opened 24h during the whole year so if one day, at 3 AM, you want to buy flowers, a tropical plant, a lemon tree… it is the right place to go. The encants vells market (plaza glòries catalanes 8), also known as bellcaire fair, is a big outdoor market where you will find everything except food so if you are looking for a cheap furniture, something old and unique, a nice mirror… it is the place to go. |
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The food artisan fair (plaza del pi) is a little market where you will find home made products of the region, normally most of them are based on honey like honey cake, bottle of honey... and for the art fair, if you go down la rambla street, near the harbor, you will find it where you can buy some paintings or ask someone to draw a cartoon of you.