When I wrote about grocery shopping, you may have noticed that I mentioned street markets and indoor markets in other towns. But I really didn’t say anything about markets in Marbella where we are staying this year. That was because at that point I had not been… and still have not been… out to any of the local day markets. Nor had we visited the local indoor market.
We have still not been to any of the day markets, but we finally went and checked out the local indoor market. You would think that given my love of markets, I would’ve been all over the indoor market. The reason that this had not happened was… when we were last year in 2017, the indoor market was kind of dingy, limited in scope, and expensive. So, I wasn’t really keen on rushing back there.
But, hope springs eternal, so off we went. The good news is, – it is way better than I remember, and we have been back a few times. Perhaps the municipality of Marbella decided to ramp up their market game.
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1) This is the main face of the market on one of the city’s main streets, Jacinto Benavente. As you can see, a few restaurants are attached to the building. We have always gone in through that small entrance that you see in the shadows on the right. This involves strolling in, getting on an elevator and going up a couple of floors to the main market area.
2) The small entrance always seemed peculiar to me, so I set out using Google maps at home one day to see if there was in fact a more prominent main entrance. Apparently I was too lazy to take the 20 minutes to walk over and check it out myself. 🙂 The net result was some associated photo images showed a main entrance. But I could not find it “walking” around the building in Google maps.
On our most recent visit we did a complete walk around the perimeter and discovered at the north end, (where there is no street so no Google Maps access), a large plaza with this main entrance on the market level. The entrance is not located in a spot that is convenient to anyone, except maybe for people living behind the market.
3) So here we are! Lots of stands are selling fresh fruits and vegetables. We have bought most of ours from Maria.
4) Virtually all these fruits and vegetables would have been recently harvested at farms right here on La Costa del Sol.
5) As you might imagine, here on the banks of the Mediterranean, many fish and seafood vendors can be found.
6) At this stand, a young couple were discussing the merits of purchasing and eating the fresh stingray you see here on the left. I had to tell him that stingray is one of the very few “non-fish” things I have eaten out of the ocean that I didn’t really enjoy.
7) Does all of that not look incredibly fresh to you?
8) A number of small eateries can be found in the market. We have yet to sample any.
9) I have to go back to check out this vendor. They specialize in veal and lamb. We both love lamb, but find it to be very expensive here, unlike other parts of Europe. Need to find out if these guys are less expensive.
10) A general butcher counter.
11) A nice little charcuterie.
12) I had a bit of a chuckle when I saw this display. To me it looked like the five fish on the right were all swimming along in a nice little school minding their own business when … bam! … they got scooped up. 🙂
13) This might just be the first of the eateries that we will try out.
14) Cheese is on sale, of course. I cannot get a nice photo of this lovely looking cheese counter because of the skylights overhead.
15) A nice little “combo” wine bar and wine shop.
16) Herbs and spices.
17) We bought some lovely spicy olives from the nice lady who runs this shop.
18) Dried fruits and nuts.
19) In spite of my love of kitchen gadgets and especially knives, I probably would not be buying from this guy. It looks more like he would cater to Dexter than me. 🙂
20) On each visit, we have arrived at the market around the same time in the early afternoon. Each time this crew has been set up… delivering a radio show apparently. This generally vast open space would be better served hosting a large flower shop… It would add some lovely colour and aromas to the market.
21) On our way out, I could not resist turning around and getting a quick shot of this lovely looking little eatery. The guy on the right does not appear to be happy that I am taking the picture. 🙂
So, there you have it, the indoor market in Marbella. After giving it a second chance, it’s clear it is a good spot to do some of your shopping. It remains a bit dingy inside, has woefully inadequate lighting, and still appears to be a little more expensive than street markets… I say that without actually having done any comparison shopping… but it has everything you need in a fairly compact footprint.
