37. Spain’s Weekly Markets Up Close

Spain’s weekly markets are not a cute holiday extra, they’re a living timetable that shapes how towns eat, shop, and socialise. We’re Nalini Sharma and Laura Senior Garcia, and we take you right into that rhythm, from the everyday fruit and veg stalls to one of the Costa Blanca’s most famous Saturday traditions: the Jalón flea market in the Jalón Valley.

We talk through how market culture evolves from village trading into covered city mercats, and why the market is also a social gathering point where generations mix, gossip flows, and a simple bocadillo can turn into a lifelong memory. We share what Jalón looks like on the ground: the riverbed layout, the competitive parking, the thrill of crystal, china and odd collectibles, and a practical tip for browsing antiques without getting completely lost, using AI on your phone to get a rough benchmark on authenticity and value.

Then the mood shifts. We describe an unsettling stall selling Nazi memorabilia and why seeing it among “normal” market finds hits differently, alongside the legal grey areas and the historical backdrop many visitors never hear about. To round out the weekend, we zoom out to nearby Moraira, Benissa and Calpe, and we get into local Moscatel wine and olive oil, plus a genuinely off-the-beaten-path lunch recommendation at Casa del Maco.

If you’re planning Costa Blanca travel, love local food culture, or just want to understand Spain beyond the beach, come along. Subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave us a review so more people can find Made in Spain.

Transcript

Welcome And Where To Follow

SPEAKER_00 0:00

All right, welcome to Made in Spain. This is a focus today on the market culture of Spain and halon.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

I am Nalini Sharma and I am Laura Senior Garcia, and we're your co-hosts for the Made in Spain podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Laura, do you want to give them our housekeeping, our details? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

So if you are not following us yet, please do. Please do. We love having you as part of the community of the Made in Spain podcast. And we do things that are not only related to Spain, you get to see a little bit of the behind the scenes. So TikTok, Instagram, at the Maid in Spain Podcast, at Maid in Spain Podcast, YouTube, just look for the Maid in Spain podcast. And same thing with your Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you listen to podcasts. We super appreciate the follows, the subscriptions. It makes a big difference and it allows us to continue with this project and keep you company while you drive or while you go to the gym or maybe while you have a glass of kava like we're having today.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Yes.

How Spain’s Weekly Markets Work

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Okay, so the market culture. Should we start first with the market culture or yes, let's do that. Right. So let's get right to the market culture. Now, if you think about a market culture, the best way to say it for somebody outside of um I would say Europe because other obviously European countries have, you know, markets. Uh it would be the combination of a flea market with a farmer's market. And it is not seasonal throughout Spain. It is every single week, depending on where you live, your city, your village, your market day. So I I've always loved a farmer's market, maybe not necessarily a flea market, but I love a farmer's market. It's a really fun thing to do. And I've really doubled down on going to my local market, which takes place. I actually visit all the markets. I have a flower market for Friday, I have my vegetable market on Sunday. But it really stems from, you know, a thousand years ago when people had small goods and services and products to trade. So if you're a farmer in one area and you make something in this area and you have something to sell, you come together in the, you know, the town square in the center of the village to trade your things to sell it. That's how it's, you know, just the origin of it. And again, not just here in Spain, but throughout Europe as well. And as time, you know, passed, Spanish, especially in the bigger cities, they decided that it's not very hygienic to be selling, you know, I don't know, for example, raw meat. Yeah, which they don't sell the markets here. Which they don't, but they used to. But they used to. So they thought, and then also you have inclement weather, whether it's rain or uh heat or whatever. But to make it more hygienic, in bigger cities, they established Mercat, so the central market that had they typically seem to have some type of iron gate or structure.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

I mean, we would call it like a boveda, which is like a big kind of usually uh some kind of curved infrastructure that keeps the cool inside the market naturally.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Yes. So that's that's how they evolve. So in bigger cities, you will have that central location that the markets operate throughout the year, and you can buy, I mean, pretty much everything under the sun there for, you know, whether it's kitchen stuff or cook cooking stuff, whatever. Um, but I think it's also interesting that it went from, you know, these little village, you know, market days to this very established commercial venture, but you still have local producers within these markets. They're local producers. That's the more organized way of doing it. In the smaller towns and villages, you have your market day. You do have to have a permit. It's not like anybody can pull up with a you know a car. And those are protected. They're protected. You have to go through your local town to get your your permit and you set up in a spot. So every week you that is going to be your spot where you are. And the police come around and check. They I see them walking through the market all the time. On a Sunday, I have a particular uh vendor that I go to. They sell all the fresh herbs, and then I have the fresh fruit and the fresh vegetables, and I have a usually a very terrible coffee. But I love the whole I love the whole thing. I love the whole experience because it's really nobody's dressed up. You're you always overbuy the most, I don't know, the heavy you didn't think you needed. Well, also in the middle of the summer, watermelon. Oh, whole watermelon is maybe two euro. So I'm not I obviously I'm gonna buy it, and then I don't know, bag of potatoes. It's very it has to be very heavy by the time you're leaving.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Can you understand why sometimes I think of Nalini as the market lady?

SPEAKER_00 4:57

And I also go on a Friday morning to the Al Faz market. The Friday is their market day. And this is another thing. If you are coming from outside, uh, let's say you're coming here and you've rented an Airbnb for a number of weeks or a month or you're spending some time here. Check out, you have to go online, but you will see when your town or village their market day is. And it has not changed, it will not change for hundreds of years in some cases. It's just that is the day that they sell the fresh produce and people bring out their, you know, whatever, the flea markety kind of stuff to sell. So yeah, I love it. I think it's fun and it's kind of a way to either end your week, start your week, depending on how it falls.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

So that's kind of starting to get into the topic of our episode, which is the

What We’re Watching And Buying

SPEAKER_01 5:48

market. Before we dive any further into that, let's go to our new little section that we've introduced about what are you watching, eating, using. So I wanted to mention a show that I've been w watching on Netflix and I want to get the name right. It is Million Dollar Secret. Okay. And I think it's actually a hilarious show. It's kind of stressful because it is a show where each participant uh could potentially get a million dollars, and they have it as a secret, and they have to try and keep that secret from the other participants in the show. So it's all a show about like lying and seeing if other people know you're lying and forming alliances. And I have to say, I'm like laughing so hard watching it because some of the people are really good at it and they come in with a whole strategy. And some people like the moment that they start getting questioned whether they have the money or not, you can just see like they're blushing and like, you know, really? Oh, it's hilarious. Like, I honestly so entertaining reality TV, but really makes you think about what lengths we're willing to go to to keep a million dollars in our pocket.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Wow, okay. Yeah, that sounds like something I would like to check out over a weekend. Yeah. Um, what I well what I've purchased recently is um, do you know this store? I don't know how to pronounce it, but I think I can spell it. It's N I C H E. It's a shoe store. Nietzsche? Yeah, it's a shoe store. I don't know that one. No, you know it. It's in our local shopping mall. Uh, but they're they've closed down. Okay. It's Nietzsche uh S. Oh, Nietzsche Seio.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

Yes. Okay, Nietzsche Sejo. It's N-I-C-H-I-S-S-E-I-J-O. Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

So you're familiar with it. Yes, I am.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Are they Spanish? I don't know, because that actually sounds like a Japanese name.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

I'm not sure what the origin of the store is, but uh they had a pair of white cowboy boots. Ooh. White cowboy boots. That's a statement. That oh, trust me, these boots are a statement. They were in the window. And there there were no shoes left really in the store. There were probably 10 pairs of shoes, and I I really wanted these boots. So I don't know why I want them, but I think I won't say my age, but I feel like at my age, if I want something, I'm gonna get it. Yeah. Because there's no other option at this point. There's no other option. I better get it because I'm gonna run out of time and I might as well get it now. So you got plenty of time, hopefully. Okay, still, I went in, they did they are closing down. They're completely closing all their stores. So they have a location, I think, in Alicante, one in Valencia. And she said, This is the last size that we have. There's no others. Tried it on too big. I'm like, okay, and they're leather, like tall cowboy boots, really good leather. Um couldn't get it. So the day we went to Valencia, just walking around, I mean, we had maybe two hours maximum, and that included finding a parking spot. So it wasn't a lot of time. We went in, we did a quick browse around, and as I'm walking past, I see the store. Oh, and again, they're probably I mean, I wouldn't even say 20 pairs of shoes left. They're really going out of business and they're just selling what they have. I see in the corner the white boots, the white boots, and my husband started laughing. He's like, it's as if those boots were waiting for you. And I said, I think so. And I thought, oh, I wonder if it's gonna be my size. It was. They were my size. Yay! And they were even less expensive, and they were already not a lot of money to begin with for leather cowboy boots. White. So that will be a look. I don't know when. You better wear them tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

We're going out for lunch tomorrow. She's gonna wear them tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

I don't think I have anything to, but yes, I'm uh now the proud owner of white cowboys. Cowboy boots. Actually, made here in Spain too.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

And in my squirrel brain, as I'm sitting here listening to you, the only thing I can think about is these boots are made for walking. Oh, yeah. That's what I will be wearing. Nice.

Markets As A Social Meeting Point

SPEAKER_01 10:05

So diving back into our topic, one of the things that gets overlooked sometimes when it comes to the market culture is the social function of the market. Right. So the in the Spanish towns, the market is kind of a weekly gathering point for people of different generations. You come to shop, but you also come to argue, you come to gossip and tweet the bocadillo standing up. So I mentioned to Nalini the other day when we discussed that we were gonna do this episode, that my brother reminded me the other day of when we used to go to the market as kids on a Sunday in Venom. Oh nice. And that has always been like a such a tradition. Even if there wasn't really anything to buy, you know, we would get taken to the market. And the smell of the sausages. Yeah, they mean the sausages, and they do the pollo asado. Yeah, so the smell of the sausages, and then we would get a bocadillo with sausages and a French omelette. It's a bit of a weird combination, but French omelette with the sausages in a big bocadillo. And he said, Do you remember those bocadillos? And it's really funny because I did remember them, but for him, he remembers places, things, etc. around what he ate. Oh, okay. I don't really usually my memory, that's not the way I recall things, but that was like the strongest memory he had of the market is the smell of sausages and eating the bocadillo.

SPEAKER_00 11:27

Yeah, because the markets they don't um if you're thinking, I mean, depending on the market that you go to, but really like sort of the local market in whatever town or you know, little village you're in, they're not going to have a huge selection of hot food. Right. So if you if you're thinking that, oh, I'm gonna get there and there's gonna be a you know a portable pizza oven like some of these markets at, you know, a typical kind of farmer's market in, I don't know, rural Canada or America, it's not really like that. It's really a local market with local people. I would not say it's if you're thinking of it, it's not Instagram-y, you know, it's it's not kind of aesthetic, picture perfect. No, but it's real. Yeah. So you have the guy with the pollo asado and they're roasting it. And first thing in the morning that you have that, you have the grilling the sausages, you'll see all the men. They stand there and they eat the sausage and they drink a little, whatever's on the side, um, a few coffee little spots. Again, not high-end, it's not a cafe, it's just really strong coffee. Yeah, that's what you're getting. But some of the markets also have a South American flair to it. Yes. So now you're getting basically the fruit stands. Yeah, but the food offering. So you have um arepas, I've seen there. You have the uh I what do they call it? It's the the plantain. They have the plantain, but they have uh, but they don't call it it's not granizado, they call it something else. Oh, um awa something. Yeah, they they have they have that like the ice comb with a bit of flavor. Yeah, they they have that, and it's really funny because you will see um, you know, people appreciating their food on a Sunday, and it's just really cute. You could be, you're in Spain and you're in your town, but you might as well be in, I don't know, anywhere somewhere in South America because they play, they have the music, they have kind of like the Latin music going, Caribbean music sometimes. It's so cool, and then you can go to another part of the market and it's all um Moroccans. Yeah, you know, it's like a completely different flair to it, uh, different vibe. You get you buy the carpets, you can buy the crockery from Morocco. I laugh because I always say we've been to Morocco twice. I'm like, I could have just gone to my local market because it's Moroccans selling the same things I bought in Morocco right here, five minutes from my house.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

And we are very close to Morocco. Yes, so definitely suggest checking out

Why Jalón Is The Market Of Markets

SPEAKER_01 13:59

the market. So let's talk a little bit about Halon specific in specific. But this is the market of markets. Yeah, it's a and this is the market of markets very much focused on the flea market perspective. Okay, because no, a lot of the markets that Nalene is mentioning, they don't actually have the flea market side. No, so like the Benedore market does not have a flea market side, right? It's fruits, vegetables, clothes, you name it, but there's no flea market. There's no no one selling like secondhand stuff or anything like that. So let's talk about Jalón. Jalón, uh, which is in the Jalón Valley, uh Valle del Rio Gorgos, sits inland a little bit from the Costa Blanca. It's hidden within the mountains, and it's about 20 minutes away from Venisa. Okay. Venisa is like the next town up from Calpey. You go Javia in the region, etc. This is a really good trip for like a sun, a Saturday, because that's when the market actually happens. Morning. Saturday morning. Saturday morning. So Saturday Sunday is a really good time to visit and kind of go visit a cluster of these towns that are very close to each other. It runs every Saturday and it draws people from across the whole region, and it does contain everything.

SPEAKER_00 15:09

So pretty much every single thing that you can imagine under the sun, secondhand. You have to have an eye for it too.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

You have to also like it. Yeah. So, you know, that's the one thing that we're I was very determined when we went. It's like, okay, let's try and find something that we actually want. And one of the things that stood out, we actually made a little post about it on our socials. And I do, I am a fan of creepy stuff, like looking at creepy things. I wouldn't particularly buy the creepy thing that to take home, but my goodness, the dolls. They they were selling all these dolls that were. I mean, honestly, I don't think if I had one of those dolls in my house, I would be able to sleep. Yeah, they're sort of also I don't know who would buy them. Lots of people.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

I guess people do buy them. People collect them.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

And the weird thing is like we went up to one of the stalls, and the lady proudly says to me, Look, she has real human hair. And I'm like, oh my goodness, like that is even more of a reason for me not to want this doll. Yeah, you know, they they they these dolls, some of them look possessed that they're not cool.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

It's a bit strange, but the first of all, don't you think the drive to the market is actually really beautiful? It's beautiful, it's super good. It's a nice Saturday morning drive.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Yeah, it's it's so tell us about some of the things that you we saw there. Or maybe leave the more controversial one to last.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Yes. Okay, you can, you know, if you need a spare bicycle tire, you can find it there. Um, you need a a lamp that has no shape, you can also find it there. If you any kind of strange collectible thing, um, little, I don't know, little figurines, little hot wheels. You uh for in the market for a fur coat, you can find it there. Um for a fur coat that may have its own ecosystem. That it might but not one. I mean, several stalls have fur, you know, they sell fur coats. Uh you have rugs. You have uh shout out to Robert Dark, my neighbor, who rescues rugs from markets. He refurbishes it and then gives them a home. Yeah, he does. He gives he actually says he gives these uh rugs a home. Um, you have all kinds of crockery. Any if you need a pot spoon, if you need, I don't know, some metal sculpture you want to put in your garden, it's there.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

What's that show in the BBC called that is like Antique Roadshow? Antique Roadshow. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 17:37

They would have a field there.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

If you have Field Day, exactly. If you have a if you like that show, which by the way, when I'm traveling around, I'm by myself in hotels and I want to fall asleep. That is the one that I watch Antique Roadshow because I love when they're like, oh, you know, someone brings something in that they found in like their grandma's house in the garage, and the guy's like, this is worth a hundred thousand pounds, and they're like, Yeah, you know, I mean, so it's rare, but it does happen. And I remember Nalini and I were walking through the market and I'm going, I wonder if there's anything here that's worth a hundred thousand pounds. Because sometimes people sell things at flea markets that they don't know the value of.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

No, it's just, yeah, just random things. Um, but I do like that the market has the way it's set up. You you drive through the town, you know, it's again, parking is a bit of a competition, but you can find parking. So you get your parking done and you start at the one end. It goes around uh along an old riverbed. So it's quite distinct where it's not as if it's gonna be scattered out throughout the town, it's just along this riverbed, and the stalls or vendors are very close together. Yes. So you can go from one to the other. It's not, I mean, it's a good little walk on a Saturday morning, but still it's nice. Um and yeah, there's just so many interesting things to see and to talk to people. And you do see that the people that go there, some of them are like us. It's our first time, and it's we're doing it as you know, something interesting to do on a Saturday morning, go for a lunch after. But there are people there who are shopping, like they are looking for specific things. There's a lot of glass, a lot of crystal, um, a lot of China. Yeah. Like the China, the fine bone china. We did look at a set, the old English rose, the country rose. The red is a very iconic um pattern in fine bone china, but he was missing pieces. I actually do like, now that I'm older, I do like that kind of granny China. I like it too, and I think it's had a bit of a comeback.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

Like I do, I think it's really pretty. And the market value for those really fluctuates as well. Again, based on my antique Roadshow watching, it does kind of go up and down depending on what the demand in the market is. Yeah. So the one cool kind of trick that I would say you can use, you know, a lot of us have the A app AI apps on our phone, right? You can you can take a picture and just say, Do you think this is authentic? How much do you think it's worth? So that you're not totally lost. So if you are being sold something, I mean, obviously it's not 100% accurate, but it's gonna give you a benchmark that there's no way by just eyeing it, you know, you would have. So that's something that you can use. And we actually did check what that uh set of china was worth, and he was selling under the value of the market.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Far under, but he was missing the problem. I would have like thought about buying it because, again, it doesn't match anything in my house, but it is kind of like a comeback, granny old lady-looking teacups. But they're so pretty, and they were in perfect condition too. But he was missing parts of the set. We should have bought it to have like high tea. So we said, okay, we're not gonna get it. But he was willing to borrow because he saw us really looking at it and he saw me reading the bottom of the cup. So he thought, okay, she knows what she's looking at here. And then he came and he gave us a much lower price than what he was originally asking. And we were kind of hemming and hogging. He said, Okay, you know, so much for all of it if you take all of it. We're like, okay, we'll think about it. Also, uh, just be careful that when you do purchase something at the market, it might not just barter, but you also have to hoof it back to your car with whatever it is that you purchased. And you see the poor husband or the dad in the family. The mom's, you know, got she purchased a plant pot for like a really great price, and the poor guy's like struggling to carry it back to the car. Because it's not, it's not like you can buy it and return it. Once you pay, it's done. So, yeah.

A Disturbing Stall And Why It Matters

SPEAKER_01 21:30

So let's get to the more disturbing finding that we had there. So, not taking this topic lightly, uh, I am part Jewish, so this hits like a bit too close to home for me. But when we were walking around, all of a sudden there was a stall that had some signs up that said no pictures allowed. And we're like, oh, what is that? And they were selling Nazi memorabilia. And But you did take pictures. I did take pictures because whatever. You're selling something that I don't think you should be selling. You know, I think it's, you know, a I don't know. It turns out on research that in certain countries like Germany, France, or Austria, it is banned outright. Yes. It is banned outright to sell anything that has Nazi symbols or memorabilia. So a proposed ban here in Spain exists but hasn't ever been passed.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

So what you see at the Halon market is legal, but that doesn't make it comfortable.

SPEAKER_00 22:36

No, because it it first, uh, I mean, you have to the context of it. You're in a market, you have many stalls, you have what like like we said, one stall uh has a fur coat, the next stall has, I don't know, recycled dishes. It's all various things. So as you're just kind of walking through, you get to a you know, a stall that has, oh, it's like kind of historical things and war memorabilia. And you know, you just kind of start picking through it and you look and you're like, oh, this is interesting, and that's interesting, and then you look towards the back and you're like, oh, what is that? And it's under a glass, it's covered, and you you sort of look, and then you know, I think I said to your husband, or I said to you, or what I'm like, are you seeing what I'm seeing? It's this weird. Yeah, like it's not is this not weird?

SPEAKER_01 23:20

Copies of the Mein Kampf, which was the book that Hitler wrote. Uh, there were hats from the SS with the the originals, yes, you know, with the Nazi symbol.

SPEAKER_00 23:31

Yeah, they had the little like when you look at the war documentaries and you see the children with the little flags, the paper flags. They had the flags in the case. It's just really a strange thing to see in a market that's you know selling just random things.

SPEAKER_01 23:49

However, here's the connection because I think it's worth mentioning from a historical point, and a lot of people don't know about this. This is worth mentioning that, you know, 20th century history. Franco had a strong desire to affiliate with Nazi Germany.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

Well, also he moved the time.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

Yeah, uh, everything was to be aligned. He wanted to be like, and again, I'm not political, not pro, not whatever. It's just it's history. Yeah. Uh so he wanted to align himself with Hitler. Right. And I don't think Hitler paid much attention to him. He's like, yeah, yeah, whatever. Like, you know, not really interested in having, you know, I don't think Spain was regarded as this super strategic ally, or you know, we had just come out of a civil war when the Second World War happened, and you know, Spain decided they weren't gonna join the Second World War because of that. But Franco's also very poor. It was a very poor country at the time. Exactly. So, but Franco wanted to align. So, what supposedly, allegedly happened was when the war was over, there were a lot of people who would have been prosecuted from the Nazi side that ended up near the Halom Valley in Calpei, etc.

SPEAKER_00 25:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

And I know this from having grown up and gone to school with people who, you know, are German and you know are not proud of like some family history, etc. But they they do know that this was the case, that there were people who Argentina did the same thing. Yeah, you know, like they're not.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

Yes, well, obviously people would have fled at some point. They would have fled. You they went somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

So apparently they turned an eye the other way. Right. So that's a little bit of like history, but that's also, you know, if you look at Calpey and you look at Halon, there's a huge German community, which may have nothing to do with that right now, but in the olden days, you know, you could say that there was a lot of influence because of the political uh alignment that Spain had with Germany.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

Yeah. Look at us learning about history in the Halan market. I I went to buy a crystal vase, but it was so random.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Like, oh my god, how are you people selling this stuff here? I'm sorry, but it just kind of rubbed me

Exploring Moraira, Benissa And Calpe

SPEAKER_01 26:09

the wrong way. Anyway, so let's talk about the area around Halon. Okay. So we have Mora, uh, that's uh south. It's a really charming port town. It is more upmarket, so from a housing sort of situation, and it's uh great for like a long lunch, you know, it's a very, very beautiful place. Then you have Benisa, uh, which is a medieval old town completely underrated, and you can see Calpe from there, and you have the Peñon de Fach in Calpe, which is you know beautiful. Uh, my husband suggested that we hike it. I'm like, no way on earth. Like you can hike it though. I know, but I looked at videos of what that hike looks like. Yeah, congratulations to anyone that's done that hike. It looks extremely dangerous. I think it's yeah, it's uh serious. Yeah. So you could think ideal Sunday, market in the morning, long lunch, afternoon swim or wander around, and you're home before the sunset. So it's a full-blown weekend Valencian, you know, uh experience.

SPEAKER_00 27:11

Yeah, and and I hope that if, you know, as you're listening to our podcast and learning about Spain, that we're trying to give anybody who's interested something off the beaten track a little bit. Absolutely. You know, I mean, even though there's a lot of people there, it's busy, but it's something that is not on a tourist itinerary. You know, you're not gonna get a tour bus driving through there.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

No, you would in Guadales, but Melini, do you want to talk to us about the the wines

Moscatel Wine And Local Olive Oil

SPEAKER_01 27:42

from Halon?

SPEAKER_00 27:42

Oh, the wines from Halon. Well, we didn't try any while we were there, but what I found really interesting is that um as you're driving in, uh you can see that it is really very much a valley. So it creates the perfect temperature to grow certain grape varieties. You have the cooler winters, you have the cooler nights, but also you get that heat um in the summertime. So it's I'm not uh obviously a a winemaker, but that apparently is fantastic conditions for that particular type of grape.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

So specifically, it's the low yield, rocky soil, and high sun exposure. Yes. And it's very affordable wine. So a lot of the wine there is also produced through cooperatives. Okay. So meaning that cooperatives. So it means that you know they actually, you know, come together, they bring the produce, it reduces the overall price that someone that has a very small amount of product would have to pay. So I think it's a a really cool experience. You can book wine tours. Yes. Uh, they are available and they're definitely worth uh booking in advance.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

No, and they're busy. So you have the wineries and they sell their wines very affordable as well. But I found it really interesting that a lot of them are sold in plastic. Um they're sold in plastic, which like five liter. Yeah, five liter. And you think about it, it's probably just easier and more economical for them. And it's not people are buying it.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

Oh, yeah. There's like most of the people that we saw leaving the market, they were leaving with some wine as well. And olive oil. Olive oil. Because a lot of in a lot of these kind of small wineries or in the wine tours, you can also buy olive oil from the region. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 29:29

Right. So, did you enjoy the morning? I did enjoy the morning.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

I thought jalom was very interesting. And I've heard all my life about the jalón market, live in this area, and I had never been. So this was my first time. So, should we do some fun facts about the markets and

Fast Fun Facts On Markets

SPEAKER_01 29:47

Halon?

SPEAKER_00 29:47

Yes, go ahead. You start.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

Okay, so Spain has over a thousand weekly outdoor markets. A thousand. Wow. Every town, however small, has one. The tradition predate predates the Roman occupation.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Okay, and the Halan Valley produces some of the most distinctive uh grapes in Europe with the Moscatel. Um, and it's again a D-O denomination of origin. Right. So it that is protected, um, and it's used in many different things as well as not just winemaking but pastries.

SPEAKER_01 30:23

Another fun fact is that the name halon comes from the Arabic shalom, a reminder that the Moor shaped this valley for centuries. So the irrigation channels that we've talked about in the Valencia episode are built and still in use today, the same original ones.

SPEAKER_00 30:39

Wow. It's just really special. I mean, the things that we've been able to see and attend and go to, it's a really special place. It's beautiful, it's stunningly pretty. And I always find that when we are in these locations, and as a person who did not grow up here, when you picture in your mind what, you know, uh, I don't know, like a Spanish town would look like it without ever knowing anything. This is uh the type of area that you would picture. Yes, you know, and then you you are actually standing in it and experiencing it. It's just really pretty and special. And I think people sometimes take it for granted. Absolutely.

Tasting Moscatel At Home

SPEAKER_01 31:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:17

Slice alive. Slice alive. Hey, all right. So today we talked about the market culture, which I'm super passionate about. Um market lady. I I and I'm gonna go on Sunday. Do you want to go on Sunday?

SPEAKER_01 31:33

I would actually. I would love to go on Sunday. Yeah. Can we get a t-shirt made? Like market ladies. Market.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

No, I have my basket, my all the things. Um, we're going to dive a little bit into our lunch that we had on that day on the Saturday morning that we went. Um, but first we're going to have a little drink. And what are we having?

SPEAKER_01 31:55

So we are having Excuse the Reach. Moscadel, yes El Artesano, Casa fundada in 1899. And Moscadel is also quite prominent, as we mentioned, in uh in Jalon. Yes, it's the type of gray. Yes. Right. And uh Nalina's gonna be trying this for the first time. Okay. This is liquor wine. Liquor wine, okay. So it's liquor. Okay, okay. I just want to set the expectation straight. All right, because when I graduation on this is 15, so it's not too bad.

SPEAKER_00 32:32

Okay, when I went to look for it, because I've never purchased it before, I had to ask the because I'm looking through the, you know, the whites, the reds, the sparkling, all the things, and maybe that's a heavy pour, Laura. Okay, sorry, a little. I'm gonna smell it.

SPEAKER_01 32:48

Okay. Smell good?

SPEAKER_00 32:54

Try it.

SPEAKER_01 32:55

Let me know what you think. Okay, cheers. Okay, let me just pull the bottle off. Okay, here we go. Cheers.

SPEAKER_00 33:04

This is not the type of glass you should be drinking in.

SPEAKER_01 33:07

But we didn't have the right glass, so don't kill us. I think with ice, and I don't think people usually drink it with ice. Doesn't this remind you of like a much sweeter version of cherry? Yeah, like it's just really cherry. Sherry. What is going on today? My Spanish and English are like, I think I'm like sleep deprived or something. Cherry.

SPEAKER_00 33:37

Doesn't this remind you of cherry? I'm like, I was thinking of a little cherry. I'm like, does this remind you of a cherry? Sure. It does. It does remind me of a sherry, though, even though I don't I don't really drink that type of alcohol, but this is really it's very mild. I thought it was going to be actually very strong. Oh no. It's not. It's really mild, it's smooth. And that is a really nice dessert wine. It is a dessert wine.

SPEAKER_01 34:01

Yeah. I mean, it's sweet.

SPEAKER_00 34:02

Super.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

You can picture it with like a cheesecake or something. It'd be pretty perfect. I think this is gonna have a renaissance. Yeah. We're bringing back Moshkade.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

No, I mean, do you know how like some of these old-fashioned things all of a sudden will come back? Yeah, they'll just come back into, you know, it'll be something that's forgotten. I have a feeling this will have a renaissance in the mainstream. Like Vermouth, for example.

SPEAKER_01 34:23

Yeah. So Moshkade. We said it first. Yeah.

A Hidden Lunch Spot Worth The Drive

SPEAKER_01 34:27

Okay, so for our slice of life, as Nalina mentioned, we want to share with you where we went for lunch, which was a bit off the beaten path.

SPEAKER_00 34:35

Literally off the beaten path.

SPEAKER_01 34:37

Almost got like uh, you know, laser eyes from my husband for making him drive out there. So culturally, here it is very acceptable to drive for a little while to go somewhere for lunch. Right. Because again, the food culture is huge. And I have found, I don't know if this is a wrong observation, but please correct me if I'm wrong, that for people from North America, that is not that common that you actually like invest 45 minutes driving somewhere for a meal.

SPEAKER_00 35:07

Uh, you would. I I don't it's not that you wouldn't do it because I think people they're you're used to driving anyways in bigger cities, depending on where you live. But the other thing is that we were kind of lost and we had no idea where we're going. And then the drive is really in, I mean the middle of nowhere. Like you think the GPS is tricking you, basically. No, no, it's really when I say it's in the middle of nowhere, and that's where often these restaurants tend to be. You get you think there is no way that's a road. Like that's not a road. The GPS is saying turn right. You're like, that's not a road.

SPEAKER_01 35:43

There is no way we're going down that road.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

We are. And I said, we I was in the backseat and I told you, I said, I we've been here before. And that one of the roads is where we took a sunset horse ride, uh horseback riding. And I was like, Laura, I know we've passed this house, but on horses. Yes, it turns out it was right.

SPEAKER_01 36:05

Yeah, absolutely. So we did not find this restaurant on a guide or anything like that. I had actually heard about this restaurant many times, but had never been able to rope anybody into going. Right. And that day is like, this is the perfect chance. So Casa del Mako. Uh do you want to spell it? Yes, so Casa C-A-S-A-D-D-E-L and then Mako M-A-C-O. Okay. And it is a little retreat. It doesn't just have a restaurant, there's a little hotel. And I think some people go there to like spend their holidays or the weekend.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

Yeah, it's like a cute little if I if to explain it in a different way, it's almost like a little boutique y Airbnb.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

Yes, it is. It definitely is. So it is Belgian Mediterranean, right? Which sounds like a combination that maybe shouldn't work, but it does work. And you sit down, it's a very nice atmosphere. The service is very, very good. We got the table in the corner of the terrace, and the light and everything with the valley behind us was absolutely gorgeous. So, what did you appreciate about it?

SPEAKER_00 37:13

Um, I would say it it felt like we were in a little, I don't know, rom-com. Yeah. Like even though the Tuscany something. Yeah, like you're just you've stumbled on this little because we were, I mean, quite truthfully, we we were lost.

SPEAKER_01 37:30

Yeah. We were. And we were lost. We didn't get a reservation until 15 minutes before showing up.

SPEAKER_00 37:34

And they were very, and the reason we had to book a reservation is because halan, I mean, listen, all respect to them. The restaurants seem fabulous, but there is just simply not enough wait stuff.

SPEAKER_01 37:49

So in what restaurant that we walked into, there were 50 tables for four servers.

SPEAKER_00 37:55

And full. And they're full. And they're running. I mean, they're so busy they forget, I mean, they can't even remember what you put in to order. And again, I'm not knocking them. I completely see the for where they're coming from. There's a lot of people, especially on the Saturday morning. The flip side is the restaurants really should hire more speed, even if it's just for the Saturday morning rush that they get. So we were kind of stuck. We were all getting super hungry. And this is how we made our way to the restaurant. But we were we're really lost in the forest. Yes, we were.

SPEAKER_01 38:26

Casa El Mago, we actually had the set menu, which was I think 27 euros, which was quite affordable.

SPEAKER_00 38:33

Yeah, it was really nice. They have um, I mean, the I think the their concept too is um not quite farm to table, but still very local produce. Very fresh. Yeah, fresh caught seafood because they're very close to the sea. Yeah, very close to the sea. And that's that is the view that you have. So you and right where the restaurant is situated, if anybody is familiar with this, you can see the train, the little tram going through the mountain from I guess it would be Calpe. Calpe, yeah. So Calpe, and you just see it there. It's like going through beautiful views, super quiet. And they have a pool, which obviously for the guests that they have staying overnight, um, where after your long lunch, I don't think they would tell you anything if you decided to have a little siesta there.

SPEAKER_01 39:18

Yeah, I actually saw someone that was kind of heading in that direction. Um, one of the cool things that we found is when we went to the restroom that there's a little boutique. Yeah. So we actually ended up buying some sunglasses and, you know, a couple of pieces of clothing that were super cute.

SPEAKER_00 39:35

Yeah, no, I think it's a very um smart marketing, you know, tactic on their part that after you've had this nice long lunch, you know, you have a glass of wine, and then you know, you kind of wander to the ladies' room, and lo and behold, there's a boutique that and they're not super expensive items either. Yeah, very affordable. I can guarantee you they're moving merchandise there.

SPEAKER_01 39:59

Yeah, absolutely. And the desserts were delicious. Yeah, so definitely recommend a stop there. Again, not sponsored by the restaurant, just giving you our honest review and recommendation. So, should we go to our sentence

Sentence Of The Day And Goodbye

SPEAKER_01 40:12

of the day? Yes. Okay. So the sentence of the day today is El que busca encuentra.

SPEAKER_00 40:22

What you search for, you get. No. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:25

He who seeks or she who seeks, finds.

SPEAKER_00 40:28

Oh wow, I actually got that right. Yeah, you did. Two in a row now.

SPEAKER_01 40:32

Almost a third one. And in halon, you genuinely never know what you're gonna find. Right. But that's entirely the point.

SPEAKER_00 40:41

All right. Well, thanks for listening and joining with us today. And bye for now.

SPEAKER_01 40:46

And next episode coming up, we're gonna be talking about Denia.

SPEAKER_00 40:49

Yay.