Mercado de San Miguel, Madrid

Mercado de San Miguel is Madrid’s covered gourmet market, housed in an iron-and-glass building beside Plaza Mayor. Its original iron structure remains, giving this food destination a strong sense of continuity. The market was built in 1916 under the direction of architect Alfonso Dubé, and its covered form replaced an open-air fish market that had operated here after a parish church was demolished in 1809.

The building contains two floors and more than 40 food stands. It is not chiefly a grocery market today: it brings together freshly prepared tapas, Iberian ham, olives, baked goods, cheeses, seafood and Mediterranean rice dishes, along with beer, wine and champagne. Private investors acquired the building in 2003, renewed the iron structure and reopened the market in 2009.

Since then, it has become one of Madrid’s best-known gastronomic destinations, welcoming more than 7 million visitors each year. Look at the building itself as you pass: its durable iron framework and glass enclosure make the market feel both historic and open, while the stalls inside turn that preserved structure into a place devoted to eating and tasting.