Mercado de Abastos

Mercado de Abastos in Santiago is a great stop if you want a real taste of local life. It’s lively, colorful, and packed with fresh seafood, produce, meats, and cheeses. Even if you’re not buying, it’s worth walking around just to take it all in. Check their timings to make sure what’s open when you visit - as many parts of the market do close early. What I liked most was how authentic it felt—lots of locals doing their shopping, and friendly vendors who are happy to chat or explain what something is. There are also spots where you can sit down and eat, including places that’ll cook what you just bought from the market. Definitely a spot to explore if you’re into food or just want something different from the usual tourist stops.

At first, it was a bit confusing to figure out how the system works. You can buy fresh seafood or fish directly from the stalls, and some places will cook it for you. You need to find places to eat yourself after. When we visited twice in total), not many fish shops were open. First shop we tried, told us we could buy seafood there and bring it to their cooking booth — they would cook it for free, and then we could enjoy it inside at one of the restaurants(we thought we just needed to order some wine or another dish there). But when we tried to enter the restaurantto get seats, we were told we couldn’t bring cooked dishes in. Instead, they offered to cook for us at €9 per person. Other restaurants said they didn’t offer cooking at all — so it turned out that the first shop was the only one that would actually cook your fresh seafood for you. Eventually, we found a wine bar that allowed us to eat there as long as we ordered wine. They had a great selection of wines and very good service. There were no chairs, so it was standing only. Since it was peak time, we waited over 40 minutes, but it was fine because the cooking also took quite a while. (Next time, we’ll definitely go at a less busy hour!) On our second visit, we tried another fish shop. They had a small kitchen in the corner and cooked the seafood immediately after we bought it. Much faster and very convenient. We found a bench behind side of the market and eat there. Overall, it was a very nice experience. The seafood was fresh, big, and delicious — and the prices were good.

The local market has a lot of fresh agricultural products (many of which are agricultural products seen on the pilgrimage route) and many tourists come to visit.

Real working market with seafood, meat, and vegetable/fruit sections for the local residents. One area also has a few restaurants serving mainly tourists like us. We tried the percebes/barnacles for the first and probably the last time. Definitely come visit while in Santiago de Compostela.

Great selection of wines by the bottle and by glass. Prices were very reasonable (€3 to €4 for a glass of good red). Staff were friendly and engaging, and were happy to recommend markets stalls to purchase food. Standing seats only. Loved the bustling location in the middle of the market. You need to go early to get a space as it gets busy by midday.

This large mercato has everything. Flowers, fish, meats, fruits and veggies. Check hours before you go. Your fish can be cooked for you there as well.

A beautiful and charming bazaar with a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, meats, and more. It felt quite local to me.

We saw a number of youtubers give good ratings, not sure what century they were in or if it were a time warp, but there is nothing special about this place. I guess if you want fresh meat,fish and poultry, its the place to go. Not really a tourist walk.