The market of Sant Joseph or, as it is popularly known, La Boqueria (which meant “the meta market”) stands in the central courtyard of a square buit in the middle of the 19th century. Before that time, the square had formed the precint of an old convent of Discalced Carmelites of St Joseph.
The City Council of Barcelona decided to build a large porticoed square there for the many street vendors who had been hindering the flow of traffic on the Ramblas till then. The project, by Francesc Molina provided for the continuity of outdoor street-selling throuth the creation of a space inspired by the traditional “places majors” or main squares.
However, the square never came to be completed owing to the opposition of the owners and the vendors, who demaned what was indeed finally buit: closed permises with a metal roof that makes it very difficult to see the columns of the square and the tarreces Nowadays, the market of La Boqueria is the most emblematic of the whole network of municipal food markets. Because of its special location and its worldwide fame, every day it receives thousands of tourists, who consider this, the Mercat (market) de Sant Josep, to be a must among the sights to be seen.
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