Concept

Mercat

Catalan and Mallorcan word for market. Covers both the permanent covered food markets (mercats municipals) and the weekly town markets (mercats setmanals) that rotate through a different town each day of the week.

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Mercat is the Catalan and Mallorcan word for a market (Spanish: mercado). It covers two different things. The mercat municipal is a permanent covered food market — a hall of fish, meat, produce, cheese and charcuterie stalls, usually open mornings through the week, increasingly with bars inside where you eat what's just been bought; Palma's Mercat de l'Olivar, Mercat de Santa Catalina and Mercat de Pere Garau are the best-known. The mercat setmanal is a weekly open-air market that takes over a town's streets on a fixed day: each Mallorcan town has its market day, so the island effectively hosts a different market every morning of the week. These sell produce and local goods alongside clothes, leather and craftwork. Some are very old — Sineu's Wednesday market has held a royal market privilege, the Mercadal, since 1306.

How it's served

At a covered mercat, go in the morning; buy at the counters, or sit at one of the in-market bars for grilled fish, tapas or a coffee. At a weekly mercat setmanal, arrive early for parking and the best produce, bring cash (many stalls don't take cards), and check the town's market day before travelling — days shift around local festivals and out of season.

Regional variation

In Mallorca the weekly-market tradition is unusually dense: nearly every town has a market day, and a few — Sineu, Santanyí, Pollença, Alcúdia, Inca — draw visitors from across the island. Sineu's is the most traditional, still trading farm animals. On the mainland, Barcelona's covered mercats (La Boqueria, Santa Caterina, Sant Antoni) are the reference point, and 'mercat' there leans more toward the permanent food hall than the rotating street market.

Origin: Catalonia and the Balearic Islands
Etymology: From the Latin mercatus ('trade, marketplace'), the same root as the English 'market' and the Spanish 'mercado'.
Also called: mercado, market

Where to try it in Barcelona

19 restaurants on Guidavera mention mercat in their kitchen description.

Frequently asked

What is a mercat?

The Catalan and Mallorcan word for a market. It means both the permanent covered food markets (mercats municipals) — halls of fish, meat and produce stalls, often with bars inside — and the weekly open-air town markets (mercats setmanals) that take over a town's streets on a set day each week.

How do Mallorca's weekly markets work?

Each town has its own market day, so somewhere on the island there's a market almost every morning of the week. Most run mornings and sell produce and local goods alongside clothing, leather and craft stalls. Market days can change around festivals and out of season, so it's worth confirming with the town hall before travelling.

What's the difference between a mercat municipal and a mercat setmanal?

A mercat municipal is a permanent covered food market, open through the week — like Palma's Mercat de l'Olivar. A mercat setmanal is a weekly open-air market that sets up in a town's streets on one fixed day, like Sineu on Wednesdays or Santanyí on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Related terms

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