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El Rastro, el mercado callejero de Madrid

By | 14 July, 2011 | 0 comments

The Rastro is one of the most famous street markets in Madrid. Born over 250 years ago on Rivera de Curtidores, a street very close to Puerta del Sol in the centre, it is today one of the main shopping attractions on Sunday mornings for Madrilians as well as visitors. Its origins are less than legendary as it started off as a kind of black market for second hand objects, that little by little expanded and became the legal street market that it is today.

The first stalls start to appear on the streets early in the morning of Sunday. This market has everything from pet food to Franco memorabilia. However, in the last few years a few shops of hand-made quality crafts have started to appear, and although people don’t go to el Rastro anymore to find a bargain, it is still a good place to find an original birthday present or good quality one-off product that you won’t find in other shop.Los puestos se instalan en las calles muy temprano en la mañana dominical. Este mercado tiene de todo, desde comida para mascotas a recuerdos de la época de Franco.

Sin embargo, en los últimos años, han comenzado a aparecer algunas tiendas de artesanía de calidad con objetos hechos a mano. Aunque la gente no vaya al Rastro más que para encontrar una ganga, sigue siendo un buen lugar para comprar un regalo de cumpleaños original, presentes de buena calidad y productos únicos que no encontrará en otra tienda.

El nombre del mercado tiene una gran historia, pero no es muy romántico, sinceramente. El área donde el Rastro se ubica ahora estaba en el camino al matadero de la ciudad y el mercadillo tomó su nombre del camino o “rastro” de la sangre que los cadáveres de los animales sacrificados dejaban detrás de ellos cuando los transportaban desde el matadero.

Una de las calles principales en el mercado, la Ribera de Curtidores, se llama así por los talleres que se instalaron en ella, que eran los de curtidores que trabajaban con las pieles de animales proporcionadas por el matadero y los trataban para producir productos de cuero.

The name of the market has quite a story, but not very romantic, I’m afraid. The area where the Rastro is now was on the way to the city slaughter house, and the market took its name of the trail or “rastro” in Spanish of blood that the carcasses of the slaughtered animals left behind them when the transports left the slaughter house. One of the main streets in the market, Ribera de Curtidores,takes its name from the workshops that occupied its side, which were those of “curtidores” or tanners who worked  with the skins provided by the slaughter house and treated them so they could be used to produce leather products.

Categories: Madrid Cultura, Madrid Ocio, Madrid Turismo

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