FreshPlaza visited the San Josep market in Barcelona also known as La Boquería. Ever since its establishment, this market has gone through various phases and its location was the topic of many discussions. Originally, it was an open market located in front of one of the accesses of the old city walls.
It was inaugurated in 1836, where half of the popular Rambla is still located, between the Virreina Palace and the Liceu theatre. In 1914, however, it was fully covered.
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In addition to being one of the most ancient and famous markets in Spain, it is also the largest in Catalonia covering 2,583 sq. m with over 300 stalls. It is open Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 8.30 pm and it sells not only fruit and vegetables, but also meat, fish, sweets and local products.
The structure is made of metal and glass, but it is what is inside it that makes this market truly worth visiting.
We recommend walking among the stalls and browsing the various bars and restaurants to enjoy the mix of sounds, aromas and flavours.
We arrived there at around 9.30 am. The Liceu underground stop (green L3 line) is just in front of the market.
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For what concerns fresh produce, prices are more or less the same around all the stalls. A few examples: Conference pears at €2.29/kg, extra nectarines at €1.98/kg, plums at €2.49/kg, extra watermelons at €1.50/kg, tomatoes at €2.99/kg and strawberries at €3.50/kg.
The exotic fruit section is wonderful - there is fresh fruit as well as processed fruit products such as smoothies, fruit salads, sliced fruit, lollies and even chilli pepper lotions.
There is also a wide range of dried fruit and delicacies.
Click here for a small photo gallery.
The Sant Josep market is part of Emporion, the European association of markets, and promoted the MedEmporio project for the study and development of programmes in the Mediterranean. Other members were the Barcelona Municipal Markets Institute representing the Barcelona municipality, the cities of Marseilles, Turin and Genoa, and the Conservatorio di Piamonte.
Culinary Classrooms were added in 2003 to teach children and adults how to cook.
