La Boqueria Market is one of the most emblematic points of Barcelona and one of the main attractions of La Rambla. Wanna have a look?
You can not walk through La Rambla without coming across with La Boqueria, one of its most popular hotspots. It is unavoidable not feeling tempted before the mixture of smells and flavors that characterizes this market. We invite you to discover its history, curiosities and anecdotes.
1. Its real name is Mercado de San José (San José Market) but it is better known as La Boqueria.
2. Its first historical reference dates from 1217, when a group of merchants and farmers settled in the gates of the city of Barcelona to sell their products and avoid the entrance tax.
3. The ‘Boqueria’ name may come from the meat of the goat male (In Catalan, the boc), which was the most demanded food at that time. Another less credible theory suggests that it is a variation of the word badoqueria (in Catalan, a place full of stupid people ), since walkers stopped stupefied to admire the doors that the Count of Barcelona, ​​Ramón Berenguer, had achieved after the conquest of AlmerÃa in 1147.
4. The market is built on the remains of the old convent of San José de los Carmelitas, which was fired in 1835 during the Sant Jaume day revolt. After the fire, the construction of a market was requested and that’s what happened. A year later, the vendors of La Rambla installed their parades.
The best fresh food market in the world
5. Currently, La Boqueria occupies an area of ​​2,583 square meters and has more than 300 stops where you can find everything: meat, vegetables, fish, nuts, sweets, legumes, fruit, specialties …
6. In 2005 the World Market Congress held in Washington gave La Boqueria the Best Market of the World award.
7. CNN Â considered it the best fresh market in the world, over the Union Square Farmer’s Market in New York or the Or Tor Kor Market in Bangkok.
8. Behind La Boqueria there is the Corralet cemetery, where the patients of the Hospital of Santa Creu i Sant Pau (14th century) were buried. These were homeless and people with mental diseases whose bodies nobody claimed. Medicine students used them for their practices. Ghosts have been seen in the area so…Be careful!