Fruit and veggies, cheese, meat and fish… The feverish atmosphere at the Atarazanas Market in Málaga can be felt from very early in the morning. It looks like Wall Street in the rush hour. People coming and going. Shoppers browsing for all kinds of food items. Standing on Atarazanas Street, in the heart of town, a pebble’s through from such major thoroughfares as Alameda Principal and Larios Street, the Market is the largest food market in the Capital of the Costa del Sol and an Asset of Cultural Interest – a title it earned with a glorious century-old history.
Atarazanas is the right place to browse, touch, sniff – even eat! For the Market houses a few bars where restless shoppers can stop for beer and tapas. Paying a visit can be a fruitful experience – for everyone: from housewives hunting for fresh ingredients to make dinner to foodies in search of that sophisticated, exotic food.
Brimming with life and colour, Atarazanas will awaken your culinary mood as soon as you set foot in it. The stalls are painted in different colours – red, yellow, blue, white – and the foods contribute their own shades. To these we should add the 108 glass panels that let the light in and brighten up the walls.
The Market’s stained glass mosaic, designed by the Atienza Brothers in 1973, shows some of Málaga’s most popular sights. It was part of the rehabilitation work undertaken a few years ago, which involved refurbishing the stalls and restoring the building to its past glory.
Of course, the star product at the Market is pescaíto (fish) made in Málaga – so freshly caught that some are still wriggling. Sushi lovers will find the best products, cut by expert hands. Tropical foods and fruit from Axarquía and mushrooms in a wide variety are the main attractions in autumn.
A little bit of history
Before housing Málaga’s food market, the Atarazanas building was a warehouse, an armoury, a military hospital and barracks. In the early nineteenth century, it was a shipyard built in the days of the Nasrid dynasty (hence the name, for that is what ‘atarazana’ means in Spanish) and torn down to develop a labour centre for the working class. Thanks to the intervention of the San Telmo Academy of Fine Arts, the main door was spared from destruction. It is still standing, welcoming visitors to the Market.
A beautiful building and the best culinary offering: the Atarazanas Market is both a popular tourist sight on the Costa del Sol and a favourite with Malagueños.
