The Mercado del Rastro is one of the most picturesque places in the entire city! Madrid's historic flea market is set up every Sunday and on holidays, right here around the popular Plaza de Cascorro, which is the heart of the lively Lavapies district.
I suggest using the the statue of the soldier Eloy Gonzalo at the center of the square as a reference point to avoid getting lost in the market's chaos.
The Mercado del Rastro has inspired many of the great Spanish writers including Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, Cervantes and Calderón de la Barca. The name Rastro, which means "streak" is decidedly macabre: it refers to the trail of blood that animals left on the ground after being butchered in a nearby slaughterhouse. In fact, this market's origins are precisely in the trade of meat and its relative leather and skins, as its tree-lined main street called Ribera de Curtidores, or 'the tanners side', reminds us.
Just think, the market has more than 3,000 authorized stalls where, with luck and skill, you'll find a valuable object at a give-away price.
Calle Fray Ceferino González, which is nicknamed "The Parrot Street" and specializes in the sale of birds is a pleasant surprise among all the confusion: here the background sounds are much nicer! If you walk downhill on the main street, at the intersection with Calle Rodas you'll see the arched entrance to the "Galerías Picquer" on your left.
Now pause the audio and go to the Galerías Picquer.
You are now at the entrance of Galerías Picquer, a shopping center built in the fifties. It holds seventy famous antique shops spread out on two floors around a beautiful internal courtyard. But if you want to visit them properly, I recommend coming back here during the week, when calm again reigns after the hustle and bustle of the Rastro.
FUN FACT: if you're wondering who the soldier Eloy Gonzalo is with his dedicated statue in Plaza de Cascorro, he fought in the Spanish Civil War against the United States in Cuba. The container he's holding is full of oil, commemorating the moment when he alone crawled along covered with branches and leaves and used it to blow up an enemy ammunition depot.
Language: English