Saturday morning and we are off to Vera to wander around the market – normally I have done most of my supermarket shopping on Friday, so this is purely for pleasure and to buy lovely fresh fruit and vegetables and to treat myself to some flowers. Although there are markets in every town on every day of the week, Vera is my favourite.
Fresh produce at Vera market
It sprawls out from the Plaza Major (town square) in every direction, down all the main streets and the little alleys off them. It is colourful and noisy and full of crazy Spanish people selling everything from jelly beans to whole legs of jamon, underwear to sunglasses and everything in between. You have to watch it though, they have one price for locals and another for tourists (a difference of about 30%) which obviously really annoys us and if they try it on me, I chuck it back at them shouting “no estoy una turista, vivo aqui!” and stomp off! We mooch about looking for the best seasonal fruit or vegetables and any bargains which catch our eye. Then we always have a coffee in our favourite cafe, outside and right in the hubbub of everything. It is never raining at the market as if it is the stall holders simply don’t come and neither do we!
Mmmmm...chicken and chips
Then sometimes we go and have a glass of something in Carmona Terraza, a fantastic bar and restaurant in the town’s hotel – it is actually really famous in the whole region and serves the best acorn fed jamon (known as Pata Negra or Jabugo). The market generally finishes at lunchtime but we like to go earlyish so we have the rest of our Saturday. Everyone who comes to the Cortijo goes to Vera market and usually come back with lots of good little purchases to take home with them. There really is something about a local market when you are on holiday – it is something that just has to be done!
Yummy Almeria 
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