- El Rastro
El Rastro de Madrid or simply el Rastro is the most popular open air
flea market inMadrid (Spain ). It is held every Sunday and public holiday during the year and is located along "Plaza de Cascorro" and "Ribera de Curtidores", between "Calle Embajadores" and the "Ronda de Toledo" (just south of "La Latina" metro station).A great variety of products (new and used) can be found at el Rastro. A number of
antique shops in the local area are also open on Sunday.Etymology
"El Rastro" means "the trail". The market probably owes its name to the tanneries that were once located in "Ribera de Curtidores" ("Ribera de Curtidores" means 'riverside of tanners'). Close by, on the banks of the
Manzanares River , was anabattoir . Transporting the slaughteredcattle from the abattoir to the tannery left a trail ("rastro") of blood along the street. [Madrid: El Rastro, in Spanish http://www.espanolsinfronteras.com/Comunidad%20-%20Madrid%20-%2003%20-%20El%20Rastro.htm (in Spanish)] An alternative etymology suggests el Rastro once meant “outside”, referring to the fact el Rastro was once outside the jurisdiction of the mayor’s court. [El Origien del Rastro http://www.elrastro.org/origenes-2.htm (in Spanish)]Location and times
According to municipal rules, el Rastro takes place every Sunday and public holiday of the year, from 9 am to 3 pm, in the "barrio de Embajadores" ('
Ambassador ’s district') in the Central District ofMadrid . The Madrid town council regulates the markets. A maximum of 3500 stalls cover the area from the "Plaza de Cascorro", with its statue dedicated toEloy Gonzalo , in the north, along the main thoroughfare of "Ribera de Curtidores" and adjoining streets to "Calle Embajadores" in the east and the "Ronda de Toledo" and "Plaza del Campillo del Mundo Nuevo" in the south. [Ayuntamiento de Madrid, "ORDENANZA reguladora de la venta en el Rastro de Madrid", art.20, http://www.munimadrid.es/Textos/Legis/ANM/2000/NOEXTE/51.htm (in Spanish)] .Transport
El Rastro can be accessed from the following
Madrid Metro stations:
* Line 3 from the stations "Embajadores", "Lavapiés" or "Sol".
* Line 5 from the stations "La Latina", "Puerta de Toledo" or "Acacias".
* Line 1 from the stations "Tirso de Molina" or "Sol".
* Line 2 from the stations "Sol" or "Opera".On market days there are EMT (Empresa Municipal de Transportes de Madrid) buses that stop close by. It’s also accessible from the commuter train network (
Cercanías Renfe) from the following stop:
* "Embajadores"Description
According to the German writer
Hans Magnus Enzensberger , el Rastro is the final border between Europe and Africa, comprising diverse peoples from different countries and of differing ethnicities all searching for curiosities or bargains, sightseeing, sampling the gastronomic delights ofMadrid or simply soaking up the atmosphere. ["¡Europa, Europa!",Hans Magnus Enzensberger , (1989)] Traditionally, the wares for sale are items not available in shops or malls, such as antiques, rarities, curiosities. [Ayuntamiento de Madrid, "Ordenanza reguladora de la venta en el Rastro de Madrid", art.4 http://www.munimadrid.es/Textos/Legis/ANM/2000/NOEXTE/51.htm (in Spanish)] .chedule
El Rastro’s promotional page advises those wanting a “tourist experience” to go to el Rastro at 11am, as this when the market is busiest. [Official page for el Rastro www.mirastro.com] Those wishing to haggle for a bargain in the stalls should be at the market a little earlier, between 9 and 10am. The crowds usually being to thin around midday, as people head for the bars at the edges of the market and around "La Plaza de Cascorro" for a drink and some tapas. The stalls gradually shut and by 3 or 4 pm (depending if it is winter or summer).
pecialty items
Certain streets or areas within El Rastro are associated, either by tradition or by the gathering of specialist stalls, with particular wares.
*"Calle Fray Ceferino Gonzales" is known as “"calle de los Pajáros"” ('street of the parrots') as it was where peddlars and travelling sellers would sell domestic animals and birds and associated paraphernalia.
*"Calle San Cayetano" is also known as "calle de los Pintores" ('street of the Painters'), as its permanent stalls sell paintings and drawings and art supplies.
*Stalls around "calle Rodas" and the "Plaza de General Vara del Rey" (formerly "Plaza de Antonio Zozaya") and "Plaza de Campillo del Mundo Nuevo" specialise in buying and selling magazines, trading cards and stamps. A frequent sight in this area is young children swapping and trading with each other.
*"Calle Carnero" and "calle Carlos Arniches" are where "bouquinistas" sell old, rare and collectible books.
*The "Plaza de Cascorro" specialises in selling funky clothing and accessories.
*"Calle Mira el Sol" is for the movie buffs with everything fromAndrei Tarkovsky toPajares .El Rastro in popular culture
Cinema
In 1945
Edgar Neville directed "Domingo de Carnaval", a lively detective movie set in el Rastro.It also featured in the movie "Laberinto de Pasiones " (1982) by well known Spanish directorPedro Almodóvar .Literature
Ramón Gómez de la Serna dedicated a book, "El Rastro" to the market. The writer and journalistPedro de Répide Gallegos wrote a novel called "Del Rastro a Maravillas".Music
In the seventies the singer
Patxi Andión made famous the song "Una, Dos y Tres" (One, Two and Three) whose chorus was “"Una dos y tres, una dos y tres, lo que usted no quiera para el rastro es"”.In the early days of his career, the singer
El Fary recorded and pressed his own records and sold them himself in el RastroOlvido Gara , better known by the stage name "Alaska", spent many of the early years of his career in el Rastro, during "el rollo" (later renamed "la Movida Madrileña ").The Spanish singerJoaquin Sabina mentioned el Rastro in his song "Con la Frente Marchita" from his album "Mentiras Piadosas" and also in his song "Dieguitos y Mafaldas".References
External links
* [http://www.espanolsinfronteras.com/Comunidad%20-%20Madrid%20-%2003%20-%20El%20Rastro.htm Contains a photo gallery of the Rastro]
* [http://www.madrid-guide-spain.com/el-rastro.html English language guide to El Rastro]
* [http://www.elrastro.org El rastro.org
Contains photos,history, maps and general information of the Rastro]
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