Abaceria Central Market

In the central part of Gràcia, which was once home to a close-knit working-class community, Barcelona's Mercat de l'Abaceria opens the doors to a whole world of sensations and experiences. It is a pleasure to do some shopping here or just browse, as you listen to the characteristic cries of the stallholders which can tempt the most demanding shoppers.

In the middle of the 19th century, when Barcelona's new industrial society was calling for more rational city infrastructures and spaces adapted to the growth in population, travelling markets in the city and surrounding towns relocated indoors. This is the case of the Mercat de l'Abaceria Central in Gràcia village. Located on the Travessera de Gràcia, it opened in 1892, when it was named the Mercat de Santa Isabel, to provide a place where the farmers, who came to the nearby Gràcia's Plaça de la Revolució, could sell their produce. The Mercat de l'Abaceria Central was built at the behest of the industrialist Puigmartí, who owned a factory known as the Vapor Nou. The iron and brick structure is set out in three aisles or sections. The central aisle is the widest and has an eye-catching oval roof. The Mercat de l'Abaceria still retains the atmosphere of the Gràcia of bygone days, when it was a close-knit working-class community.