Mercat de La Vila

What it is

The Mercat de La Vila is Villajoyosa's central market. It has been on Calle Canalejas since 1947, and on 17 May 2003 it reopened in a new, modern building on the same site. It opens Monday to Saturday from 7:30 to 14:00. It is a good place to see what the town eats: fish from La Vila's fish auction, salted goods and local chocolate are in the same aisles.

What you will find

There are stalls for vegetables, fish, meat, salted goods, tinned goods, bread, pastries, cured meats, pickles, frozen food, wines, special beers, vermouths, oils and honey. The tourism website highlights local products: Creu de Pedra vermouth, Mas de Sella wines, La Pileta oil, El Abuelo honey, traditional pastries, artisan ice cream, the "peix de La Vila" and the town's chocolate brands.

Eating in the market

What makes it different is that you can eat there. At the canteen they cook on the spot what you buy at the stalls; tourism gives as examples blood sausages or prawns. Several stalls also serve small portions to eat on site: salted goods, cheeses, boiled shellfish or cured meats. The website does not publish the canteen's hours or prices, so ask at the market itself. We also list it as a place to eat in the entry for the Mercat de La Vila in "eat".

How to organise it

Allow about 45 minutes to go round it, more if you stay for a bite. The market has no published phone number of its own; for questions, the Tourist Info (966 851 371) and its Instagram account, @mercatlavila. On Sundays and public holidays, the website does not indicate opening: assume it is closed.

It is in the centre, in the area of the town's expansion outside the wall, a walk from the old town and the colourful houses and from Vilamuseu, on Calle Colón. If you like chocolate, combine it with the chocolate and nougat route or with a visit to the Valor Chocolate Museum. And if you prefer to sit down to eat fish, Hogar del Pescador cooks with produce from the fish auction next to the Yacht Club.