Explore the local culture through their fresh food at the Mercado de Atarazanas en Malaga city centre. This food market is definitely a must on your trip to Malaga. Even if you are not planning to buy, I promise you will not leave the place without resist having a try of one of the many different types of fruits, nuts, breads or handmade sweets.It is located just in the heart of Malaga, in the historical city centre. You will recognize it by the colorful stained glass in one of the entrances or the beautiful Muslim style marble door on the other entrance. It is a colorful festival of colors and smells in a big old-style storehouse. You will feel immersed by the huge variety of fresh food, lots of old Spanish ladies doing their shopping and the sellers shouting promotions about the seasonal products.
The best thing is that all the food is fresh, local, seasonal, with no additives or chemical stuff... and with a really affordable price. Plus, you can have a really nice time chatting (or at least trying) with the friendly sellers.
Just to give you an idea about prices, you can find onions for 1? per/kg, Spanish pepper for 0.90? per/kg, huge tomatoes for 1.60? per/kg, shellfish for 4? per/kg, mackerel fish for 3? per/kg. The range of food you will find it depends of the season of the year, but for sure you will have vegetables. fruits, fish, shellfish, red meats, sausages, olives, cheese, hand made breads and sweets. And if after your trip around the stands you are thirsty enough for a drink, the stand called "Puesto Muriel" will offer you some of the best beers in town.
A bit of history
It worth to mention that Mercado Central de Atarazanas was declared National Heritage in 1979. Built in 1879 by Joaquin Rucoba, this building with Arabic origins, was used as a place to build ships, a Moorish naval workshop. The name of the market, Atarazanas, means in Arabic "Place of fabrication". The building was given different usages, depending of the needs, even was used as a hospital during the epidemics. The current building was decided to be a local market regarding the need of having an enclosed space for the sale of food, which then did not exist in Malaga.
From the original building it is only preserved the Muslim style marble door.
Visit the Mercado Central de Atarazanas at "Calle de las Atarazanas, 19, 29005. Malaga"
