EL RASTRO

Description

Essentials about El Rastro in brief

For shopaholics, a visit to the El Rastro flea market on a Sunday or public holiday is an absolute must. Held in the La Latina district, El Rastro is Spain’s best-known flea market and popular with Madrileneans and tourists alike. Here, at over 1,000 market stalls, you can take home just about anything second-hand at good prices, from clothing and accessories to records and books to handicrafts and pets.

The areas of El Rastro

Incidentally, the name “El Rastro” (meaning “the trail”) has a rather bloody history. It supposedly comes from the animal carcasses that were once dragged here from the slaughterhouses to the surrounding tanneries.

El Rastro begins at busy Plaza de Cascorro and stretches along Calle Ribera de Curtidores. However, the many merchants also spread to all the adjacent streets. Some of the streets are known for their special range of goods. For example, Calle Fray Ceferino González is known for its bird and animal vendors. In Calle de San Cayetano you can buy mainly paintings and painting supplies. In Calle de Rodas and Plaza del General Vara del Rey, as well as Plaza de Campillo del Mundo Nuevo, there are many vendors selling magazines and cards. And in Calle del Carnero as well as Calle de Carlos Arniches many dealers for used books have their stalls.

The offer on El Rastro

El Rastro takes place on Sundays and holidays between 9 am and about 3 pm. The list of goods offered by the market vendors is almost endless: second-hand clothing, accessories, vintage records, magazines, books, furniture, kitchen items, odds and ends of all kinds, even pets are offered here. Those looking for antiques should also come to the market, as there are several antique stores in its vicinity.

After an exhausting shopping trip, it is best to do the same as the Madrileneans and settle down in one of the many bars and pubs in the area to drink a beer or a wine and eat a few tapas or a paella.