Mercado Central

This pano shows a traditional Spanish spring market day at the main market in Elche, the Mercado Central.

What could I say about this pano?

This aint't no supermarket at a big shopping resource mall but the real thing to me. If I was ever asked to define a marketplace with the help of a picture this pano here would always be in my "definition" and I have no doubt about that.

Let me try to explain this marketplace pano with words now.

In my opinion this is one of those remaining spots in Elche where time seems to be stuck at the past, or at least seems as if time doesn't pass so fast as just outside.

I hadn't stepped inside this Market for a long, long time (about 18 years?!?). The last time I can remember was when I was a child and went on "an excursion to the market with mum" on one of those happy naive days. From what I recall now, the place and the whole atmosphere in general, hasn't actually changed much in all this time, although to me it looked much greater and crowded at those days.

I think it is worth mentioning, what to me are, the two main characteristics of this place and which if you closed yours eyes could make you think that time stands still here somehow: the sound and the smell of the Mercado central.

The first one, the sound, is a mix of all those high and low-pitched market sounds: people talking and shouting - music playing on the radio - all sorts of trolleys moving - plastic and paper bags opening and folding - coins and weights "dinging-donging" - wooden, cardboard and plastic boxes piling - trucks and cars parking outside - ...

Finally, the second and main characteristic to me is the smell: that characteristic smell of many flavoured little yummy coloured fresh things mixed together into just one powerful and as it is trendy to say now "organic" smell: the fruits - the veggies - the meat and poultry - the fish - ...

These are the sound and the smell of the Mercado Central to me and both are still there and still remain the same through the years! :)

Note how most of the people depicted at the pano are old and elderly people doing their daily shopping the way they have always done. It's really a shame that we here in Spain are slowly loosing this nice typical Spanish custom of going shopping to the daily market for fresh vegetables and food. Sometimes I wonder whether we are really going forward with the so called modernisation and development?!?

Picture encouragement, location and shutter release clicking by Sonia Zamora-Amorós. Camera assembling, camera setting and picture postproduction by Antonio V. Garcia-Serrano.

Europe / Spain

Lat: 38° 15' 57" N
Long: 1° 42' 55" W

Elevation: 86m

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: Unknown / Undeclared.

Canon 10D - Sigma 8mm - f.4,6 at 1/60, iso 100, JPG

manfrotto tripod and vr head

Photoshop-PTGui-Photoshop-PanoCube.