Markets in Community of madrid

The Community of Madrid has 329 markets spread across 75 towns and cities, and they divide into two clear kinds. 269 are street markets, the weekly stalls that set up on a square or a car park for a morning and pack away by lunchtime. The other 60 are municipal markets, the permanent halls with fixed counters that trade several days a week. Which of the two you want changes everything about when you should turn up.

Saturday is the busiest day in the region, with 136 markets trading. Friday follows at 103 and Sunday at 97, then Tuesday and Thursday at 87 each, Wednesday at 78, and the week bottoms out on Monday, the quietest trading day at 71. Most open at 09:00 and close at 14:00, which is the single most useful thing to know about market-going here: an afternoon arrival usually means a swept-clean square. The city of Madrid itself accounts for 79 markets, more than four times any other town. Alcala de Henares has 9, Collado Villalba and Fuenlabrada 8 each, and Alcobendas, Alcorcon, Coslada and Mostoles 6 apiece.

One caveat worth carrying with you. Of the 329 markets covered, 60 have no confirmed trading day recorded, close to one in five. Check the market's own page before making a journey for it, and treat the towns with several markets as the safer bet, since they are more likely to have something running whichever morning you pick.