Mercado Municipal

Santa Cruz de la Palma


Situated on the site of a 16th-century house-hospital dedicated to Nuestra Señora de los Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows), this excellent market is the place for fresh produce and deli items. Try a sugar-cane juice with rum, mint and lemon (€4), sold at a stand here – or possibly without the rum if it's 7am in the morning!

Note the niche at the southern end of the building facing Avenida del Puente, which contains a statue (in a wood and glass cabinet) of St Christoper carrying an infant Jesus and looking up into the child's face. The saint is the patron saint of not only travellers, but also chauffeurs and taxi drivers; the city's main taxi rank used to be parked in front of the market, basking in and made secure by his divine aura.