“We return home”: the Abaceria Market moves to the historic space of Gràcia

Barcelona“Goodbye, handsome, see you Tuesday. I want to see you looking very elegant, in a tuxedo and tie,” a customer of Albert Madrid, the owner of the Montse Ràfols stall at the Abaceria Market, says mischievously. “Yes, I already have an appointment at the hairdresser, don't worry,” he replies roguishly from behind the counter that bears his mother's name. Albert, who wants to make it clear that he is a Barça fan, took over the family business that his grandfather started from his parents four years ago. They have always sold cod, olives, and vinegar-preserved goods. He grew up in the market, among stalls, and the idea of moving back to the historic space in Gràcia makes him very excited. This Saturday will be the last day at the Passeig de Sant Joan location. Starting next week, he will be serving from where his whole family did before him. Mind you, in a brand-new space.

“We are going back home and we are very happy, they’ve left it beautiful,” he says while his colleague, Sheila Quílez, diligently serves the customers crowding to take away a portion of cod or some succulent gildas to accompany their weekend vermouth. This morning, like every Saturday, the market is packed, perhaps even a little more so because of the curious onlookers who didn't want to miss the last day before the move. The stallholders work tirelessly in front of a flood of people placing their last orders at the current Abaceria. When they finish the day, another one will begin of packing and making boxes for the move to the market's original site, which will begin operating on Tuesday.

“This afternoon we will pack boxes, tomorrow we will take them over there, on Monday we will set up and on Tuesday we will start working”, summarize Carlos Descals and Rosa Marcial, who sell legumes, groceries and prepared dishes at Marcial i Mas. She is the daughter of a stallholder, her father worked for forty years in the historic Abaceria buildingand she gets emotional during the interview because he won’t be there next week to see the new space. They have a mix of feelings: they are sorry to leave the Passeig de Sant Joan, which they like a lot, but they are also looking forward to arriving at a new market and, above all, to meeting up again with clients they haven’t seen for years because the current location was too far for them and they stopped coming.

Loyal clientele

There is also no rest at the Peixos Barrera stall, where they are confident that before the move they will sell everything “just like every Saturday”. Karla and Elsa, mother and daughter, the third and fourth generation working at the market, are serving customers. With an experienced “what can I get you, beautiful?”, the daughter dismisses the interviewer to attend to a client and leaves Karla alone, who explains in a thin voice that she is hoarse from nerves, but that they are very excited at home about the move. Her father, Lluís Barrera, “is known by the whole neighborhood” because he worked at the historic building since he was a little boy, but on Tuesday he won’t be able to see how the new building has turned out: it is very large and he has Alzheimer’s. “We will put a photo of him at the stall, in his honor,” says Karla proudly while showing a monkfish tail to Maria Teresa, a lifelong client.

“I like the market, always have, and I will walk as far as necessary to go to the new building,” assures this 80-year-old neighbor from Gràcia, who will now have to travel a little further to buy fish at Can Barrera. Josep and Josefina are also clients, but they buy their fish at the stall opposite, run by Antoni Lázaro. Everyone knows him as Tonet de Gràcia, the “war name” of his grandfather, his father, him, and now also his son, and it is the name the fish stall has always had. He made his first sale in the year 80, and since then he hasn’t stopped. Unlike the rest of those interviewed, he will not open next Tuesday because he is retiring this Saturday. “I’m not sorry at all because I’ve already worked enough,” he says wryly while cleaning a hake.

His children did not want to continue with the business and he did not want to transfer it either, so his stall will be taken over by the City Council. However, he will continue to go to the Abaceria whenever he can, starting Tuesday as a customer. “My colleagues are asking me to,” he explains while finishing Josep and Josefina's order. This couple has been buying fish at Tonet de Gràcia for 50 years, first from the father and now from the son, even though they have not lived in Gràcia for 30 years. “We live in Putxet and we come down every Saturday to shop at the market. We have been loyal and with the new location we will continue to be,” explains Josep, who did not want to miss Antoni's last day at the fishmonger's.

The relocation of the stallholders is the final step before the reopening of the market, which for years seemed impossible. Closed in 2018, it was not until five years later that work began to rebuild it on its original site with a structure that is a replica of the historic structure by the architect Joan Torras Guardiola. In addition to a renovated market, the Vila de Gràcia will gain a new semi-covered square of about 1,500 square meters (comparable to the Plaça de la Revolució). It was an attempt to address one of the neighbors' main demands, as they were asking to gain green space in a district that is, after the Eixample, the area with the least in the city.