50th anniversary of the Mercat del Born’s transfer to Mercabarna

Barcelona’s Central Fruit and Vegetable Market closed for good on 7 August 1971, after close to a hundred years of history behind it. The transfer to Mercabarna made the wholesaler market a leader in Europe and guaranteed the survival of Catalonia’s small- and medium-sized fresh-food retailer trade.

07/08/2021 11:52 h

Ajuntament de Barcelona

Designed by Josep Fontserè i Mestre and officially opened in 1876, it responded to the unstoppable rise in wholesale trade and congestion of the Mercat de la Boqueria, the city’s central market at the time. This was a temporary measure that was extended for fifty years, during which it became clear that the Mercat del Born could hardly sustain much more of the demographic and economic growth of the time. Hence the call, in 1962, for a new public competition; and the chosen place for transferring the market to was the Zona Franca, with a new centre that would be called Mercabarna.

A new stage, 10 km to the west

The transfer was instrumental in making the wholesale market a leader in Europe, and today it brings together more than two hundred enterprises and its fruit and vegetable sector shifts more than two million tonnes of produces. What is more, it enabled the survival of Catalonia’s small- and medium-size fresh-food trade. The change naturally had an enormous impact on daily life in the La Ribera neighbourhood. The market had given the area its own commerce-related vitality, identity and social fabric, and businesses such as the shops, bars and transport agencies thriving from the activity that it had created disappeared.

The Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria, Mercabarna and Mercats de Barcelona are organising a series of cultural, communal and festival events and activities throughout the second half of the year to remember and celebrate this period of history of the market, neighbourhood an city. These will feature talks on food, the Mercat de Mercats fair, a party at Mercabarna with music and sport, and a photography exhibition, among other things.

Photos: Ignasi Marroyo, Colita and Pérez de Rozas.

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