You probably can’t get more ‘right in the middle of the action’ of Palma than the Olivar Market.
The elegant building, looking like the stately home of some rich grande landowner of 200 years ago but actually built in 1951, sits majestically right between the Avenidas and the most tourist dense part of Old Town.
Named after a nunnery which in turn was named after the olive field the area once was, the market itself doesn’t seem to be overly concerned with olives. In fact I find just one stall that sells them, but it has at least 40 different types, so I suppose that‘s good enough. And they were gourmet olives. I thought olives were black or green – not so, apparently.
Like the Santa Catalina Market, in Mercat Olivar on a Saturday there are throngs of people who have come to eat and drink at the many cooked food stalls, but Olivar has a different vibe – it doesn’t feel like a tardeo with the crowded and almost nightclub like atmosphere of Santa Catalina.
Perhaps it is because Olivar is larger and lit with natural light, and with much more space between the rows of stalls. It also has a light grey tiled floor, hyper clean and shiny like the airport in a newly rich Asian country.
And taking about Asia, Olivar has a Korean fast-food stall which, on the Saturday we visited, had the longest queue of all the providers of cooked food. Kimchi – yum! Oh, and if you don’t like to sit and eat in the main hall, there is also a separate room with a real restaurant, complete with German language menus.
Yes, Olivar is more than your common or garden market. In addition to the hams, fruit and vegetables, fresh fish and meat, wines, nuts, peppers and condiments that are the staples of Spanish markets, Mercat de L’Olivar has a great variety of interesting non-food stuff, including ceramics, bags and knick-knacks with the ubiquitous Mallorquin pattern of blue or red jagged lines on white.
You can even find colourful wheelie bags to drive all the stuff home in – if there’s anything left in your budget. For this Mercat is not cheap. I bought a small pot of hummus and another of cream cheese, both picante – 26 euros!
Maybe that’s why someone has been considerate enough to install a Mercadona on the second floor...
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