Those of you who are regular readers of this blog will have spotted that I cannot resist a market. The more bustle and colour the more I like it. The scents of the spices and olives, the colours of the fruits, the exciting expectation of finding something not found anywhere else. All these things make a market interesting to me.

The central market in Malaga is housed in a building inspired by Les Halles in Paris, which not forgetting its arab origins is in neo moharabe style and retains one of the tenth century marble towers as well as its nazari name from when it was the Atarazanas – the shipbuilders. When I first visited Malaga the market building was still suffering from the “improvements” done in the sixties, which included a mezzanine floor which cut out the natural light and made the hall feel dingy and sliced in half the stained glass window that fills one end of the central hall. Thankfully the former glory has been returned to.

The stall holders then as now were the main attraction. Here are some of my new friends and their produce –