Fascinating Market in Barcelona

Barcelona's oldest market still draws shoppers and visitors for its technicolor fruit smoothies, stalls of cured meat and other delicacies, and counter-seating eateries. La Boqueria might be Barcelona’s oldest market—it started life in 1217 as a mere huddle of meat stalls on La Rambla—but tradition isn’t staid. More than 200 stands unite like a foodie’s choir: traders’ shouts, the clink of glasses, welcome greetings sung out ("holaaaa"). Though, for all the atmosphere, it’s the smell that gets you: warm, ocean-salty, freshly fried fish—the kind that lines your nostrils, excites your stomach, makes your physician tense, and has to be washed down with a glass of cava. Once past the swaths of tourists photographing the stained-glass entrance, the crowd is increasingly local. The back half of the market, especially around the quirkier offal stalls, are still where chefs and quality-savvy Catalan families do their shopping. #market #barcelona #spain