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Number 16 of 20 in Madrid

El Rastro: Madrid's Sunday market

Every Sunday morning the streets running down from the Plaza de Cascorro fill with stalls, and half the city comes to look. Most of it is new clothes and souvenirs, but in the side streets there are still old books, records, tiles and odd bits of furniture.

What it is
Walk
Time to allow
1 to 2.5 hours
Cost
Free to walk, pay for what you buy
Best time
Sunday, before eleven

Madrid this week

    Why the Rastro is worth it

    The market has been held in the same streets for centuries, in what was once the quarter of the slaughterhouses and tanneries. Its name, the trail, is said to come from the trail of blood the carcasses left on the way from one to the other, down the street still called the Ribera de Curtidores, the tanners' bank.

    It runs on Sundays and public holidays, from the morning until mid-afternoon, under rules set by the city. Up to three and a half thousand stalls line the Ribera de Curtidores and the streets off it, from the Plaza de Cascorro down towards the Ronda de Toledo.

    The antique shops of the neighbourhood open on Sunday too, and when the market winds down the crowd moves up the hill to the bars of La Latina.

    What to see

    1. The Ribera de Curtidores

      The main street of the market, running steeply downhill from the Plaza de Cascorro, with the thickest crowds and the most stalls.

    2. The side streets

      Away from the main street the stalls change: second-hand books, old records, paintings and frames, and around the Plaza del General Vara de Rey, old furniture and bric-a-brac.

    3. The antique dealers

      Shops in the courtyards and arcades off the Ribera, open on Sunday, sell the better pieces the stalls do not.

    4. A vermouth afterwards

      Madrid's Sunday custom is a vermouth from the tap and a tapa in a bar near the market, before lunch.

    How to do it well

    • Go early, before eleven, when there is room to look and the sellers are still setting out the best things.
    • Keep your wallet and phone in a front pocket. The crowds are thick and pickpockets know it.
    • Bargain for anything old. For new clothes and souvenirs, the price is mostly the price.

    Where it is

    Address

    The Ribera de Curtidores and the streets around the Plaza de Cascorro

    Nearest station

    La Latina (line 5) or Tirso de Molina (line 1), five minutes on foot

    Museums and sights nearby

    Distances are in a straight line.

    Tickets and tours: El Rastro

    El Rastro: common questions

    When is the Rastro in Madrid?
    Every Sunday and on public holidays, from the morning until about three in the afternoon. The crowds are thickest around midday.
    Where is the Rastro?
    In the Embajadores quarter, south of La Latina: the Ribera de Curtidores and the streets around the Plaza de Cascorro, down towards the Ronda de Toledo.
    Why is it called the Rastro?
    Rastro means trail. The usual story is that it comes from the trail of blood left by carcasses carried from the slaughterhouse to the tanneries that once stood on the Ribera de Curtidores.
    How much time do you need for the Rastro?
    Allow 1 to 2.5 hours. That is this site's estimate for an unhurried visit.

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