Barcelona's "La Boqueria" (15th June 2011)

Spain has many covered town markets and is well known for its abundant produce of fruits, vegetables and meats. The famous "Mercat de la Boqueria" ("Boqueria Market"), along the central La Rambla street, is a typical example of a Spanish-style Grand Bazaar, although without the spices and neither so old nor so vast, but still full of pyramids of fruit and vegetables and rows and rows of Spanish hams and chorizos and fuet.

The first stall which greets you once inside the market: not many stalls can boast such large quantities of so many exotic fruits  in a European town!

Although the surrounding area is known for being a bit rough at night, during the daytime this place is bustling with tourists and early bird shoppers. Shopping for fruit and fish in the early hours is still typical in many parts of Spain, when women gather quickly to buy the best of everything. Most stalls will be still be open at around 7 pm, and one can simply wonder down the aisles looking at all the typical Spanish and Catalan products or looking for something more exotic.

Sugared fruit is a very popular food in Spain, and about a third of the stalls at the Boqueria are lined with entire trays of  these products.

Another famous covered market in BCN is the "Born" mercat. Although it is currently being restored and turned into a museum, this market is one of the most important examples of iron buildings in Spain, and along with "La Boqueria" and most other Spanish covered markets, it is part of a rich history of Spain's architectural and economic history and heritage. Most urban areas, from a small fishing village in Galicia to Madrid, Spain's capital, will have at least one of these, standing as a testament to the importance of trade in Spain since a long time ago.

Until the late mid 20th Century, most people in Spain were either directly or indirectly linked to this trade, either by being the people cultivating the land or the people selling and transporting them to and from the markets. Markets became a meeting place for the people, and a few still remain as such today, although some invarioably have been overtaken by a strong tourist presence.