Hello friends! Today is Friday and it's time to go and **discover another market, the first of 2023**. Another live moment full of good and interesting products in any city we visit and that we can share with others here, thanks to the wonderful #MarketFriday initiative by @dswigle

And since these days I am telling you about **my trip to Santander**, in which I have seen many different things, I am also sharing my brief experience in the best-known market in the city, because whenever we travel it is **good to visit the markets where people do real life**, where the rhythm of the city is more intense and authentic.

In the heart of the historic center, behind the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (City Hall Square), it's the living heart of Santander, a large building with windows and aged stone from another time. Before we knew anything, we intuited that it was a local market, it is the city's market par excellence, and later we found out that it was called the **Mercado de la Esperanza** (Esperanza, in addition to being a woman's name, also means "hope") so *Hope Market* could be even a more beautiful name really.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmX7cxkaRiSwXhSs9Dgf22YNG9geVXtoRtM79t68CTXQzo/20221221_111451.jpg)

Not only do we contemplate its structure, but we directly go inside to the area through one of the many doors, it depends if you turn around the building and go to the other side... 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmPRtNt9onMJsieevbixisB9MzWoy3MB17Wr27Cg6AVF7C/20221223_112259.jpg)

That most attracts our attention, because it is divided into zones or floors, apparently the meat is on the top, on the outside on one side some days they sell fruits and vegetables and others instead clothes and accessories... But it is the ground floor that focuses all the attention of those who live there and also of the visitor.

**The "pescadería", or fish market**. The first impression is that it is not very big, usually there are high ceilings and wide corridors, here it is the opposite. But the most curious thing is that in a small space there is a lot, a lot of fish and shellfish, a lot of everything. In some stalls it seems that the counter does not give more of itself, there is no room for one more fish, the size of the monkfish is impressive. And if we go to the shellfish area, we realize how important the fishing industry is and how attached they are to the sea, in this coastal city on the edge of the Cantabrian Sea, owner of the bay and part of the outer coast. White waters that undoubtedly give a very good genre, great quality and overflowing quantity.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmXiig5MoBxaVBUdiYyUfNtzKjJQ7zMgNgYHx8bdbABpTw/20221221_111630.jpg)

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmcspQpaeHnd3CkrRJWXdWQobCqw7u7K94R67mqAnvpHK6/20221221_111558.jpg)

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmUwUnT8jBfWfS44Pkuxz3yztodrrGxUBUpthQLaUyPcxB/20221221_111605.jpg)

We see people crowding into some of these stalls, because **fish and shellfish recipes are common here**, almost everyday, and at prices that they would like in other countries. It is something cultural that is part of the life of the residents and those of us who come here for few days and taste some dishes, because I have had the fortune to be able, afterwards, to eat some fresh and excellent seafood.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmVo2UgxBrDjdD4fk42UjFxMZFVdZ1t6ekpNtFa49Vxp6k/20221221_111649.jpg)

And although the tour doesn't go far, neither does the photo shoot, because they're not used to it here, it's not about those big markets where there are almost more tourists than regular buyers, here life in this provincial and regional capital is calmer, and I didn't want to bother others getting too close, to all the stalls and close to the customers. With **respect and discretion**, I considered this time that it was better, simply to capture the essence, of **the amazing size and quality products** that are offered, of the signs that say it all and of the atmosphere there….

As I say, the best thing is **to feel the atmosphere**, observe its people and see what they buy and what they eat, and as the saying goes: *"wherever you go, do what you see"*. In other words, you have to try some of this that is so fresh and appetizing, for example, a large skewer of prawns, octopus, and monkfish with cherry tomatoes. And that's how we end, that's how everything ends, **from the market to the plate**.
Sea life is good, healthy and tasty.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmaC6fo1nMAyRaRa1kBAj4MNr7KgEuytd3CByqJohXXdw1/20221222_153941.jpg)

## Thanks for reading! Have a good and delicious day.

<code>More tours and more about these days in Santander, Spain, here:</code>
- [Santander: the charm in the Cantabrian Sea (I)](https://ecency.com/hive-163772/@duvinca/santander-the-charm-in-the)
- [A magical tour around Christmas lights in Santander (II)](https://ecency.com/hive-168869/@duvinca/a-magical-tour-around-christmas)
- [Santander: the peninsula of the Magdalena (III)](https://ecency.com/hive-163772/@duvinca/santander-the-magdalena-peninsula-iii)
- [Santander: houses facing the sea and underground tunnels (IV)](https://ecency.com/hive-178708/@duvinca/santander-houses-facing-the-sea)

[//]:# (!pinmapple 43.46270 lat -3.81030 long  d3scr)

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<code>*The text is totally mine, by **©Duvinca** 
and all the photos are mine too!*</code> 

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