The El Rastro flea market is Europe's largest and a Madrid institution. It happens every Sunday on the border of the Latina and Lavapies districts, going all the way down the hill and the maze of streets all around.
The crowded flea market was, back in the 17th and 18th centuries, largely a meat market (rastro means stain, in reference to the trail of blood left behind by animals dragged down the hill). The road leading through the market, Calle de la Ribera de los Curtidores, translates as 'Tanners Alley' and further evokes this sense of a slaughterhouse past. On a Sunday morning it's the place to be, with all of Madrid here in search of a bargain.
I have never been to a flea market that is so vast and furthermore, one, where anything you imagine, can be found: bags, umbrellas, jewellery
T-shirts with different logos - goth, feminist, anything you can imagine
and so many people
jackets
pocket watches
We took one of the side streets and found ourselves in the antiques section. Lots of stores, mainly on the Nouevas Galerias and Galerias Piquer: most shops exhibit some wares outside, but not all open on a Sunday.
ceiling cornices: I thought selling those was a really good idea
A strange piece of furniture, the round outside was made out of some sort of velvet material, and then it opened to reveal a dressing table
the stalls weren't as tightly packed rogether here, so it was easy to walk around
JC sitting on a throne holding a globe
quite a lot of religious stuff, in fact
and ceramic tiles, of course
and then I looked up, and saw that the whole shop was packed with them
another JC sitting on this throne, this one smaller and twice the price
more dolls
We had been walking for ages and came upon a square with a rich variety of stalls
local pottery
flowers
lots of toy soldiers
helmets - there really is nothing they don't sell here
not all streets selling antiques were quiet
in fact, most of it was packed
lots of vintage toys for the collector
These images changed according to where you stood - if you moved to the side they changed to gruesome, vampire-type faces
more music
and more people as we moved away from the antiques
more traditional ceramics
stencils
skulls, skulls and more skulls
difficult to navigate with so many people
baby booties
women's clothes
a poet - you sit with her, tell her a bit about your life and she writes/types out a poem about you
music - they were quite good, actually
We decided to stop - we had been at the market all morning, and even though there were still loads of streets full of stalls, we felt we'd done enough.
We started wandering and came upon this square - during the next few days we realised that the flower stalls are always here,
but not the political ones. So we started having a look here
There were three stalls so we had a look at everything
And then it was time for lunch.
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