We read in the ARA what they will be the ordinances that could prevent the world-famous Boqueria Market from becoming as authentic as Port Aventura's Polynesian Corner, where they suggest you "enter a lush jungle where you'll meet exotic and indigenous birds." Yes, in that order: birds and indigenous birds. At La Boqueria, for the moment, there are no exotic birds, which have long been banned, nor any indigenous birds; everyone has been scared away. These ordinances state that processed products must be made "from a series of agreed-upon fresh products, presented at room temperature or chilled, cut or sliced, or prepared and ready to eat." This is perhaps the way to put an end to the few of ours. nuggetsBut it's perhaps the way to perpetuate those plastic jars of cut-up fruit.

The Boqueria Market continues to search for a way to preserve its function as a neighborhood market and avoid being swallowed up as a tourist attraction. This Tuesday, the Market Vendors' Association approved, with over 90% of the votes, the market's remodeling proposal, which includes the physical transformation of the space but also an overhaul of its offerings. According to the agreement ratified by the merchants, in the future the Boqueria will have a maximum of 50% processed products and a minimum of 50% traditional products.

The stallholders are the main victims of the transformation of La Boqueria. The transfers of their stalls (very few square meters) are paid in millions of euros, accumulated by certain groups, and those who have worked there all their lives suffer a massive influx of tourists who no longer buy cod or sea bass because they will have lunch on the cruise ship or at the restaurant on duty. They look, take photos, and watch as some Barcelona woman still fills her cart, but they don't go shopping. And a market where no one goes shopping is not a market: it can be a square, a decoration, or a shop window, but it's not viable to keep the mussels fresh if no one buys them. The word "mussels" is not in vain. market comes from the Latin root merx, from which the Latin verb is derived Merchant (to buy) and the name of Mercè (grace or reward), who is the patron saint of this city of merchants that was Barcino.

La Boqueria dressed up in solemnity to pay tribute the most special tribute that was missing for Juanito Bayén, Pinocchio. The police in full dress, the mayor of Barcelona, ​​​​close friends and also restaurateurs like Pedro and Josep Monje from Via Veneto They sat on chairs placed in one of the corridors of the Mercat de la Boqueria to listen to the memories told by those who knew him. At the end of the glosses, the mayor, Jaume Collboni, gave his widow, Carme Celdran, the Gold Medal for civic merit, which she raised with pride and with the gesture that some remembered from the day when friends took Pinocchio in their arms, dressed as a bullfighter, and paraded him around the market. He was a man who represented humility and effort in equal parts, and who was loved by everyone for his human qualities.