Barcelona has been, from ancient times, a trading city. His privileged position in the Mediterranean has helped Barcelona to become a place where all kinds of merchandise can be found and also goods flow through the city (Barcelona’s dock is the third largest in Europe). We will now give you some information on the most important Barcelona markets in town for you to check them out! First of all we will have a look at the food-based markets.
1. Mercat de la Boqueria
Address: La Rambla de Sant Josep Closest underground station: L3- Liceu Opening times: Monday to Saturday (08:00 – 20:30) Barcelona’s most famous food market, known worldwide, was established in 1853, although there was an existing market in the street before than that (as far as 1836). Nowadays, with over 2583 square meters and over 300 shops, it is one of the largest in Barcelona, consisting mainly in high quality & fresh food stands from all over the world.
In La Boqueria, you will be able to find traditional market shops, including mainly fruit and fish, but since the raise of immigration in Spain, everyday more shops owned by immigrants open to offer products imported from their home countries. La Boqueria’s trademark it’s his small restaurants where you will be able to eat products that can’t be fresher.
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2. Mercat de Santa Caterina
Address: Av Francesc Cambó, 16 Closest metro station: L4- Urquinaona / Jaume I Opening times: Monday (07:00-14:00), Tuesday and Wednesday (07:30-15:30), Thursday and Friday (07:30-20:30), Saturday (07:30-15:30) Although not so known as La Boqueria, the Santa Caterina market has also a lot to offer. Food-based, the market is not as exotic or spectacular as La Boqueria, but offers you a quick glimpse of the mixture between tradition and design. Being Barcelona’s first covered market in 1848, and underwent massive restoration in 1997. Once the work was finished in 2005, the outcome has been impressing not only tourists, but also architects since then. Much less crowded and less tourist-oriented as La Boqueria, this market is a good opportunity to see a real-deal market in Barcelona. Also, there is a very nice restaurant inside with fresh products from the market!
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3. Barceloneta
Address: Plaça de la Font, 1 Closest metro: L4 – Barceloneta Opening times: Monday (07:00-15:00), Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday(07:00-15:00/17:00-20:30), Friday (07:00-20:30), Saturday (07:00-15:00) Established in 1848, as Santa Caterina, this market took more time to be covered (in 1884). As la Barceloneta was a fisherman’s village, still premium fish can be found here, while also there are plenty of small and cozy restaurants near by that will cook you all kinds of fish based dishes.
It is the smallest one of the ones proposed (855 square meters), but still, if you are close to the beach it is worth a visit to check out some food on the go! There are plenty of other food markets in Barcelona, as every neighbourhood has its own. Most known ones are el Mercat del Ninot, Mercat de Sant Antoni and Mercat d’Hostafrancs. You can check them all here! After seeing the food-based markets in Barcelona, it is now the turn of other kinds, including flea markets and art markets around town.
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4. Sant Antoni Market
Address: Comte d’Urgell with Ronda Sant Antoni intersection Closest underground station: L2- Sant Antoni Opening times: Monday to Thursday (07:00-14:30/17:00-20:30), Friday and Saturday (07:00-20:30) This is probably, Barcelona’s most complete market. Divided in two sectors, you can find both food and clothing in the same space. This is the unique trademark of this market in where food tradition meets clothing tradition.
Also on Sunday morning, there is a flea market, known all over Barcelona for its book exchange, but also including video, DVD and magazine selling, from the 1930’s to now. A must if you are a collector of antiquities! The market is currently in an alternative place, since due to the refurbishment of the old building (1882) they moved the market to a provisional place. During the works, Roman traces of an old town wer.
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5. Encants
Address: Carrer Dos de Maig, 186 Closest metro station: L1- Glòries, L2- Encants Opening times: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 08:30 This second-hand market is the most known in Barcelona, with over 100,000 visits per week. It is the perfect spot for antiquities and used furniture, although you might find pretty much everything, except food. The curious fact about this market is that auctions are held every morning, where shop owners bid blindly for a pack of things and after winning the auction, the content of the pack is detailed. This comes back from medieval times and it is still done nowadays, being the only market in Europe to auction to later sell.
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6. Painters market
Address: Plaça Del Pi Closest metro station: L3- Liceu Opening times: Saturdays and Sundays If you are fond of art, this is your place! The painters market is done every weekend and it reminds of Montmartre (Paris) where painters expose their works and sell their paintings to pedestrians. If you want to do so, one of the painters will make a painting of you after you negotiate the price with him or her. It is a quite beautiful and interesting street market to visit since it is in the Old part of town; you also have a very nice Gothic church right next to it.
