Tag Archives: markets

Seville | Christmas in Seville

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christmas market ayuntamientoArtisan market and City Hall lights

Yes, it’s that time of year again. And as the weather closes in and the shops fill up with too many people, maybe you should be thinking about doing Christmas somewhere else this year. Like Seville.

So why Seville? Well, for a start, it’s warmer. It’s not exactly beach weather, but it is one of the warmest places in Europe at this time of year. It’s also one of the most welcoming and festive, and whether you’re a resident or visitor there’s always something to see or do. In some ways it’s quite like many other cities. From early December the city lights up, with Christmas lights in all the major squares and thoroughfairs. The shopping districts are crowded, too, especially in the evenings, and the singers of Christmas carols are out and about, adding to the general hustle and bustle. Fresh roasted chestnuts are a big thing here as well, and you can see the sellers with their little charcoal stoves on handcarts on every street corner, providing a little something to overcome the gentle nip in the air.

belenBelén (nativity scene) in the Arqillo de San Francisco

Some things are just that little bit different, though. One thing you’ll notice is the popularity of Nativity Scenes, called Belens (Bethlehems). Not only does almost everyone have one at home, they’ll also queue for hours to see the best public ones, which can be impressive. Check out the ones in the Cathedral, beside the Ayuntamiento, outside Corte Inglés and in the Cajasol building in Plaza San Francisco.

setas marketLa Magia de Navidad

Perhaps because of the relatively mild, light evenings of southern Spain Christmas Fayres and markets are also a big thing in Seville. The annual Artesan market in Plaza Nueva and the Belen market next to the Cathedral are good for unusual presents, but there also the “Magia de Navidad” fayres around the Metropol Parasol and in the Alameda de Hercules, complete with donkey and rides, and fairground rides for the kids, as well as the stalls selling jewellery, leather goods and fast food. These last right through the holiday period to January 6, just before the children head back to school.

157-IMG_20131208_152238All the fun of the fair

Perhaps the biggest difference of all, though, is that in Spain, the day for giving presents is not Christmas day (although it’s becoming more common these days), but Epiphany (January 6). This is, after all, the day when the three Wise Kings – Los Reyes Magos, Caspar, Melchior and Baltazar – brought their presents of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the infant Jesus. The day before there is a big parade through the streets, the Cabalgata de los Reyes, with the kings and their assistants on floats throwing sweets to the children. It’s one of the year’s most popular events and draws huge crowds.

Christmas Eve (La Noche Buena) and Christmas Day (Navidad) are for the family, and on Christmas Eve even the bars and restaurants are closed so that staff can enjoy the traditional Christmas Eve family meal at home.

151-IMG_20131208_153512Anyone for a ride?

Other holiday season traditions include the Day of the Innocent Saints (December 28), the Spanish equivalent of April Fools Day, and the eating of twelve grapes while the bells chime for New Year. Finishing them before the bells stop brings good luck for the next year.

Whatever your requirements there’s still time to book a holiday apartment with us over the Christmas and New Year holiday.

Seville | The View from Triana Bridge

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Every city has its impressive and/or beautiful monuments, the things that residents boast about, and visitors come to see, but often it’s the less spectacular sights and sounds that capture the heart and make a place feel like home.

0131_betis-blue-1-01view from our Betis Blue apartment

The Isabella II (Triana) Bridge in Seville is definitely one of those places. It connects the old city of Seville proper with the neighbourhood of Triana on the other side of the River Guadalquivir. Triana, whose origins go back to Roman times (it is thought to be named for the Roman Emperor Trajan, who was born nearby), has always been a neighbourhood outside the city walls (an arrabal in Spanish), a marginal community that was something of a refuge for “outsiders” such as the gypsies. It also sat astride the main road westward to the Aljarafe and the coast, which is why the Muslims built a castle on the site of what is now the Triana market, followed in 1171 by the famous “bridge of boats” that was the only crossing of the river until it was finally superseded by the Isabella II bridge in the mid 19th century. The castle, meanwhile, became first the headquarters of the Order of St George, giving it its modern name of Castillo de San Jorge, and then from 1481 to 1785 of the Spanish Inquisition. By about 1800 the castle was demolished, and became the site of the Triana market.

lovers locks-001lover’s locks on the Isabel bridge

With their working class and immigrant roots Trianeros have always regarded themselves a breed apart. Many of those who sailed on the voyages of discovery and trade to the New World came from there, as did many famous flamenco artistes and bullfighters, for whom this was the way out of the ghetto. During Semana Santa (Holy Week) the processions of El Cachorro, La O, La Esperenza, and La Estrella are among the most fervently followed in all Seville, and the annual July fair of Santa Ana, Seville’s second largest, has been held since the 13th century.

0131_betis-blue-1-apartment-14view of Triana from the Seville side of the river

The bridge itself, with its arches and iron rings, is highly distinctive, and if you’re walking across it you may notice that the railings are often festooned with padlocks, sometimes bearing the names of those who have chosen this way of “plighting their troth”. At the Triana end the Carmen chapel and the roof of the Triana market above Saint George’s castle are also instantly recognisable. It’s certainly worth taking the time to pause midway across the bridge and looking down the river at some of Seville’s other landmarks. On the left are the wharves of the old river port, once one of the busiest and most important in Europe, where the sailing ships moored to load and unload the riches of the Americas. Beyond are the Torre del Oro and the towers of the Plaza España, and on the right the unusual shape of the old Moorish dock.

Our Betis Blue apartments on the Triana river front are the perfect place to be a part of this special atmosphere.

Recipe | Migas

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One of the great things about renting an apartment for your holiday is that you can go shopping in the markets and try out Spanish recipes using authentic local ingredients. But what do you do with what you have left over on the last day? One answer could be – migas! Migas is a classic “waste not, want not” poor people’s dish for using up your stale/dry bread, together with bacon or ham, onions, garlic, and a couple of eggs. And although this year the Seville summer seems reluctant to make way for autumn, cooler weather is not far off, and this filling winter warmer is a must for your Spanish cookbook.

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  • 2 cups stale bread, crumbled up in chunks
  • 1/2 cup water (more or less)
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • chopped chorizo or ham or bacon
  • 2 eggs
  • olive oil
  • salt & pepper
  • pimentón (smoked paprika)

How much water you’ll need depends on how old and dry your bread is. The idea is to make it moist again, not soggy wet, so sprinkle water over your crumbly bread until it starts to plump up. Once it looks like it’s reviving a bit, put a cloth over it and let it rest while you get on with the other stuff. When the bread is looking good again, add the pimentón (either sweet or spicy) and toss until evenly coated.

In a large saucepan sauté the diced onion and thinly sliced garlic in olive oil until lightly browned and then add the chopped cooked ham. If you are using bacon or sausage that needs to be cooked then add it at the same time as you start cooking the onion and garlic and sauté over low heat. When it’s all cooked through remove the mixture to a bowl.

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Add a bit more oil to the same pan and once it’s nice and hot toss in the paprika-covered bread bits. Let it brown a bit, then stir it around, slowly adding a bit more oil if the bread is looking dry. Once you like the look of the bread’s toastiness stir in the onion/garlic/meat, mixing it well. Make an opening in the centre of the pan by pushing the mixture to the sides, making room for the eggs. Add a few drops of olive oil to the pan and add the eggs. Let them cook about half-way through then toss them with the bread mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Seville | 5 Ways to live (almost) like a local.

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You have seen them all over the Sunday supplements and the internet, particularly the blogosphere – 10 best this, 5 worst that, 10 things to do in X, and also 5 ways to live like a local in Y. Now for sure, some of these articles will give you some sound advice on getting the most out of your vacation, but there’s also a lot of stereotyping as well as inaccuracies involved. If you’re only here (in our case, Seville) for a few days you’re not really going to be living like a local. For a start you probably don’t speak much, or any, Spanish, an essential requirement for immersing yourself in the life of the city. Nor do the locals spend much time hanging out in the Cathedral or Alcázar palace, things you should certainly be doing while you’re here (there is an up side to being a tourist). But don’t worry. There are things you can do which will give you at least a taste of how the locals live. So here’s our list (written by a local!).

local tapas

Go on a tapeo

Going out for tapas is the locals preferred way of spending a sociable evening out, and it’s probably already on your list. The format is something like a pub crawl, but with food as the main item on the agenda, with drinks as the accompaniment, rather than vice versa. Have a couple or three tapas at each place you go to, then move on to the next. There’s no foolproof way of choosing the right places for a perfect tapas experience, and although there are some great places in the touristy Santa Cruz, such as Las Teresas and Casa Roman, getting away into the Arenal or the Macarena you’ll find bars like Casa Morales, Bodeguita Romero and Eslava that are always full of locals and have top quality food, too. As an introduction, and to learn the ropes, try a tapas tour with a local guide on your first night.

Visit a Local Market

Visiting a local market is an interesting and fun way to see how the locals shop, and if you’re renting a self-catering apartment (recommended, though we may be a bit biased) rather than staying in a hotel, it’s practical too. There are three markets in the centre, and another just across the bridge in Triana, and the displays of fresh fruit and veg, fish, seafood and meats should inspire you to do a little cooking. One important thing to remember is DO NOT TOUCH any of the fruit or vegetables. Just point at what you want and hold up your fingers to show the amount if you have no Spanish. And since there is no queuing, and very few market stalls are equipped with “take a number” machines, the correct thing to do is ask “quien es el último?” (who is last?) and then take your turn when they have finished.

local market

Siesta

There’s a reason that siesta is one of the few Spanish words to have been warmly welcomed into the English language. That half-hour nap after lunch aids digestion, calms the brain, and reinvigorates the body. It’s the original “power nap”. And if you’re here in summer (June through to mid-September), it’s really too hot to do anything else. So for a couple of hours everything shuts down, many of the smaller shops close, and peace and quiet descend on what is otherwise a bustling and buzzy city.

Fiesta

Contrary to popular stereotype life here isn’t just one long street party. Nevertheless, when the Sevillanos do them, they do them right. So if you’re here for Semana Santa, the April Fair, or one of the neighbourhood events like the Vela de Santa Ana in Triana, go along and mix with the locals. Another local tradition, churros and chocolate, is the ideal hangover cure after a night on the tiles.

Flamenco

There are two schools of thought on flamenco. One is that you should seek out some after midnight drinking club with an improptu flamenco “jamming session”. You might get lucky, and have the experience of a lifetime. Or you might get a couple of amateurs and be cold-shouldered by the actual locals to boot. Or you can go and see a proper flamenco show, at a venue like the Flamenco Dance Museum or the Casa de la Memoria. The audience will be mainly tourists like you, but the performers will be professional artists, and the quality and authenticity are guaranteed. On this one, even after the many years I’ve lived in Seville, I’m happy to be “just a tourist”.

local flamenco

Barcelona | Food Markets

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Whether you’re something of a “foodie”, or just a regular visitor seeing the sights, no visit to a Spanish city is complete without visiting at least one of its markets. Apart from its obvious practicality if you’re self-catering in an apartment (better than a hotel if you’re a group or family and staying more than a couple of nights), it’s one of the best ways of experiencing the day to day life and culture of the locals – what they buy and how they shop, and usually with an opportunity to sample some of it at a market cafe or bar. If it’s a bit overwhelming you could try one of the many market food tours such as The Barcelona Taste or Aborigens to get your bearings, or enjoy shopping and then cooking your purchases with an Eat With verified local host.

As you might expect, a city the size of Barcelona has quite a number of such markets, though the ones that the typical visitor is most likely to see are the three markets in and around the Ciutat Vella, the old city.

boqueriathe entrance to La Boquería market

La Boqueria

The most well-known of these is certainly Sant Josep de la Boqueria, located on the infamous Las Ramblas in the heart of the tourist neighbourhood between the Barri Gotic and El Raval. There’s been a market hereabouts since at least 1217, though the current building was constructed between 1840 and 1853, and although it’s still very much a working market it has now become a major attraction in its own right. There’s an impressive entrance, complete with a coat of arms surmounted by a bat*, but it’s set just a little way back from the street, so it’s surprisingly easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. The space inside seems huge, a cathedral of food, and with almost 300 stalls there’s plenty to choose from.

caterinaSanta Caterina is even more impressive when seen from above

Santa Caterina

Santa Caterina market, just off the Via Laietana in the La Ribera neighbourhood was the first of Barcelona’s covered markets to be renovated (in 2005), and is now most notable for its modernist undulating coloured roof, which you can get a good view of from the top of the nearby cathedral, and all that fabulous local fresh food of course. Less crowded than the Boqueria, with more space and light around the stalls and fewer bars, it nevertheless has a definite charm of its own, and it’s well worth taking the time to come here.

san antonitemporary installation for Sant Antoni Market

Sant Antoni

Sant Antoni is technically in the Eixample district, but really it’s right on the boundary with the old El Raval neighbourhood, where it was built in the 1880s to serve the new neighbourhoods of the growing city. Since 2009 it has been housed in rather shabby temporary accommodation on the Ronda Sant-Antoni while the original building is being renovated. Work should be completed, and the market restored to its proper home, in 2016, together with the famous Sunday collectors’ and books market. The original ground plan in the shape of a Greek cross,  surrounded by a circular covered gallery where the non-food stalls are housed, will be preserved, and the new building will also incorporate the medieval remains discovered during the works.

Other markets worth a visit include La Barceloneta, with it’s unusual roof, La Concepció in the Eixample which has a classic cast-iron and glass frontage, and Sant Marti in the eastern part of the city.

* The Bat is a heraldic symbol of the former crown of Aragon, and is thought to have originally represented a dragon. Officially it is no longer part of the coat of arms of Barcelona, but still appears on older versions and on some street furniture such as street lamps.