La Boqueria

People have been selling meat at this spot since 1217 — that's over 800 years of commerce on the same patch of ground. The first records describe simple tables set up near the old city gate to sell goat meat, which is likely where the name comes from: "boc" is Catalan for goat, so "boqueria" means a place where goat is sold. By 1470, a regular pig market had established itself here, and the site has never stopped trading since.

The market wasn't officially recognized until 1826, and the formal structure was begun on March 19, 1840, under architect Mas Vila. Plans kept changing, and the building wasn't inaugurated until 1853. It finally got its iron-and-glass roof in 1914, turning it into the covered market you see today. At nearly 27,000 square feet with over 200 stalls, it's the oldest food market in Spain and one of the most visited markets in Europe.

La Boqueria sits on the site of the former Convent of Sant Josep, which was demolished during the anti-clerical upheavals of 1835. Locals still sometimes call it the Mercat de Sant Josep. Walk past the tourist-trap fruit cup stalls near the entrance and push deeper inside — that's where the real market lives. Fishmongers who've held the same stall for three generations, butchers selling cuts you won't find in any supermarket, and tiny bar counters where chefs eat standing up at seven in the morning.

The market's most famous fixture was Pinotxo Bar, a stall near the entrance run by the legendary Juanito Bayen until he retired. It became arguably Barcelona's most beloved counter, serving chickpeas and salt cod to everyone from construction workers to visiting presidents.