Mercado Central

What you will see

Mercado Central is not a museum: it is a working market. It has 259 stalls, of which 244 (94%) sell food and 15 sell other products. The building opened on 23 January 1928 on the site of the old Mercado Nuevo, which had operated since 1839. It came from a competition held in 1910; the design is by Alejandro Soler March and Francisco Guardia, and was completed by Enrique Viedma and Ángel Romaní.

The style is modernist, with side pavilions of novecentista influence, combining iron, glass, ceramics, exposed brick and stone. The central dome is 30 metres high. Look up to find the building's two weathervanes: the parrot and the fish. In total it covers 15,200 m²: 8,200 of commercial space and a basement of 7,000.

Cost

The official website publishes no entrance fee. Inside, most stalls accept cards, and for every €3 spent you receive a mercapunto, which can be exchanged for parking hours or books.

Opening hours

Open Monday to Saturday 07:30–15:00. It does not open in the afternoon: outside those hours only online sales operate. If you shop and want to continue sightseeing, there is a free cold storage deposit in the basement open until 21:00.

How to get there

It is at plaça Ciutat de Bruges, s/n, in the centre of València. It has seven entrances, spread across Carrer Palafox, plaça del Mercado, Carrer Vieja de la Paja, Carrer Calabazas, Avinguda de l'Oest and plaça Ciudad de Brujas.

If you drive, the public Centre Històric-Mercat Central car park has over 300 spaces and is accessed from Carrer Guillem Sorolla via Carrer Guillem de Castro. The market gives one free hour of parking for every 15 mercapuntos.

Worth visiting if…

…you are interested in early twentieth-century architecture or want to see a large-scale neighbourhood market in operation on an ordinary day. If you go with a baby, there are shopping trolleys with seats and a nursing room with changing tables. Note that it closes at 15:00: this is a morning activity.