Sant Antoni Market in Barcelona
Summer is officially here and Barcelona is just the right place to be, sun, beaches, long nights and skimpy clothes will surely make it hard to forget, but it is also the perfect time to discover a new buzzing area, the Sant Antoni market, originally built in 1882 and just recently inaugurated after been reformed. The streets around it have been made pedestrian, there are plenty benches and garden areas and a flat new floor around it to ride easily while you contemplate its beautiful architecture built on an iron structure.
On Sundays the market holds a gathering of buyers and sellers of second hand books and collector’s items, such as old postcards, magazines and dvds. It’s the perfect place to mingle with the locals and get a real feel of the city outside the tourist spots and activities, the vibe is really friendly and you’ll surely find something quirky to take home with you.
There are lots of new, and old, bars and restaurants around it, most of them with terraces, such as Casa Dorita, on 142 Tamarit Street, the perfect place to enjoy a good, made with love, market cousine and tapas, with possibly the best Iberian ham in Barcelona, it’s not cheap but the quality is really top notch.
If informal and fun is your second name and you are eating on a budget, you can also enjoy a delicious variety of really good pizzas at Pizza d’Autore right next to it, they make the original Roman pizza with first class Italian ingredients and you can sit outside on a bench, surrounded by newly planted gardens.
Sant Antoni has that good old neighbourhood feel, it hasn’t been spoiled by hordes of tourists and hence it is one of those areas where you can truly relax and get a sense of what the city is like when nobody is watching. To enjoy a favourite among locals, try a traditional soft drink, a nice and cold orxata at Oxateria Sirvent, on 56 Parlament Street, a tiger nut milk with a dry and sweet taste you’ll love. Have it on the go and keep exploring all those hidden spots Barcelona still has to offer, summer never tasted so good.