claude-apiSomebody asks this in every Benidorm group, every week, and gets six different answers. So here it is from the council’s own leaflet, with the bus numbers.
The short version
| Day | In Benidorm | Nearby |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | — | Callosa d’En Sarrià, La Nucía |
| Tuesday | — | Altea, Callosa d’En Sarrià, Cala de la Vila Joiosa |
| Wednesday | Foietes and Rincón de Loix | Polop, Calpe (flea market) |
| Thursday | El Cisne flea market | La Vila Joiosa |
| Friday | — | L’Alfàs del Pi, Finestrat |
| Saturday | El Cisne flea market | Cala de la Vila Joiosa, Calpe, Callosa d’En Sarrià |
| Sunday | Rincón de Loix and El Cisne | El Albir, La Nucía, Polop |
Wednesday and Sunday are the days if you do not want to leave Benidorm. Tuesday in Altea is the one worth the tram ride.
The three markets in Benidorm
Mercadillo Municipal, Foietes
Wednesday mornings, 8.00 to 1.30. Foietes car park, by the Guillermo Amor sports city. Bus 1.
The big one, and the one people mean when they say “the market”. It splits into two halves: food at one end, with fruit, vegetables, pickles, spices and herbs, and everything else at the other, which is clothes, shoes, accessories, textiles and household bits.
It is reported to run to around 320 stalls. Go for the food half. The produce is what locals actually shop for and the prices are not tourist prices.
One thing to know: it moves. If the Wednesday is a public holiday it is generally held on the Tuesday instead, and it has been relocated to the fairground at Els Tolls when the sports city is needed for an event, including through July. If you are making a special trip, check first rather than turning up at an empty car park.
Mercadillo Pueblo, Rincón de Loix
Wednesdays and Sundays, 8.00 to 1.30. Rincón de Loix. Bus 6.
The council describes it as the same idea as Foietes, and it is, on a smaller scale. Its real value is the Sunday, because it is the only proper street market in Benidorm that day and the Rincón end is where a great many British visitors are staying anyway.
Rastro El Cisne
Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, 9.00 to 2.00. Avenida de la Comunitat Valenciana 124. Bus 10.
Different animal entirely. This is a rastro, a flea market: antiques, jewellery, vintage and collectors’ pieces rather than socks and sunglasses. There is live jazz, and the stalls sit in their own area away from the bars and restaurants, which the council notes are inexpensive.
If the phrase “Benidorm market” has put you off, this is the one that will change your mind.
Nearby, by day
All of these are reachable on public transport, and the council’s leaflet gives the routes. Bus numbers change, so treat them as a starting point rather than gospel.
- Monday — Callosa d’En Sarrià (bus 18 or 52), La Nucía (52)
- Tuesday — Altea (bus 10 or the tram), Callosa d’En Sarrià (18 or 52), Cala de la Vila Joiosa (2 or 3)
- Wednesday — Polop (52), Calpe flea market (ALSA bus or tram)
- Thursday — La Vila Joiosa (54 or tram)
- Friday — L’Alfàs del Pi (50), Finestrat (14 or 15)
- Saturday — Cala de la Vila Joiosa (2 or 3), Calpe (ALSA or tram), Callosa d’En Sarrià (18 or 52)
- Sunday — El Albir (10 or 50), La Nucía flea market (52), Polop flea market (52)
Altea on a Tuesday is the pick of them. The market itself is decent and the town is the prettiest on this stretch of coast, so you get a morning’s shopping and a walk up to the church with the blue domes out of the same tram ticket.
La Vila Joiosa on a Thursday is the other one worth the trip, for the painted houses along the seafront as much as the stalls.
Practical
Go early. These are morning markets and by half twelve the stallholders are packing. Nothing here runs into the afternoon.
Take cash in small notes. Some stalls take cards now; plenty do not, and nobody wants your fifty.
Take a bag. Bags cost money and the food half of Foietes will fill one faster than you expect.
Haggling is normal on clothing and household goods and is not normal on food. Watch what the person in front of you does.
Getting there
Bus routes and fares are covered in our guide to buses, trams and taxis in Benidorm. For the weekly shop rather than the weekly market, see the supermarket guide.
