Benissa Municipal Market

The hours are the same six days a week: 9am to 2pm, Monday to Saturday, closed on Sunday. In practice that makes it a morning market, and turning up at half past one leaves you thirty minutes and whatever the stalls have not already sold.

Everything is indoors, so the ten stalls trade under one roof whatever the weather is doing. The hall is wheelchair accessible, which is worth knowing before you pick between here and an open-air mercadillo.

Stalls take cash and mobile payments. Cards are not among the listed methods, so bring notes and coins if you plan to buy from more than one counter.

The address is Carrer Hort de Bordes, 5, in the centre of town, and the market is known locally as the Mercado Municipal de Benissa.

Six things are sold here: fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, meat and poultry, fish and seafood, cheese and dairy, and bread and bakery. That is the whole list. This is a food market, not a general one, so there is no clothing, no household goods and nothing aimed at visitors.

With ten stalls in total, each of those categories is a counter or two rather than a row of competing traders. You can walk the hall in a few minutes and see everything available that morning, which is the real advantage of a market this size over a supermarket on the edge of town.

The fish and seafood counter is the one that rewards an early arrival, since it is working from a single day's stock rather than a chilled aisle.

Benissa is a small town, so staying close to the centre puts you within easy reach of the market and the old quarter. Try Benissa Town Centre for the most convenient base, or look at rural options in the surrounding area if you prefer a quieter stay.

For something a little different, the nearby coast at Calpe is just a short drive away and has more accommodation to choose from, making Calpe a practical alternative if you want to combine a market visit with some time by the sea.

The market sits at Carrer Hort de Bordes, 5 in central Benissa. Drivers can reach the town from the AP-7 motorway by taking the Benissa exit.

Street parking is usually available in the surrounding streets, and the central position makes the hall walkable from most of Benissa, including the historic centre a few minutes away.