Mercado del Arenal, Seville

Mercado del Arenal is a market building on Pastor y Landero Street, completed in 1947. Its architect was Juan Talavera y Heredia, who designed the market beneath a wider scheme that also included homes and municipal offices. Look at the rounded arches and the glazed panels set into the roof: they bring daylight into parallel interior halls.

The building occupies ground once used by the Pópulo convent and later, during the nineteenth century, by the Pópulo prison. On the façade, ceramic images honour the Virgin of Hope of Triana, installed in 1955, and the Virgin of Charity, added in 1996. The building was renovated in 1974 by Amalio Saldaña García. Its original palette combined white with ochre yellow, giving the market a clear, traditional presence.