The Famous Manilva (Sabinillas) Sunday Market

With the majority of Sabinillas' shops and businesses closed on Sundays there isn't much to do in southern Spain except walk along the beach, visit with friends or family, or visit the huge Sunday market in Sabinillas. Sadly, we have no friends or family here and we walk along the beach every day, so on Sundays we make the 20 minute walk up the road to market. Walking to the market is key as traffic queues to get into and out of the market are almost a mile long and enforced by half a dozen local police (it would seem we're not alone in the 'no-friends, no-family' category).

I meant to write about the market when we were here in March but apparently never got around to it. Basically it's a giant food and flea market that has everything you could possibly want or need,(including:

The kitchen sink

More cowbell

and most especially, the stuff you don't (see below). Items aren't always in the best or cleanest condition, but if you look hard enough, you can find it at the market.

Since we're here for another five months and our bare bones apartment is lacking in the majority of amenities that make life easier, we've been at the market the last two weekends picking up bits of stuff, particularly a variety of used electronic cables that would allow us to run our laptop through the apartment's old-school TV so we can watch the movies and TV programs we brought with us, on a larger screen. Ten Euros, three different cables and an adaptor box later and we still haven't sorted this out. We think we found what we need at a local 'China store' (oh don't worry, the 'China store' will be covered in a future blog.) but can't decide if it's worth trying and failing with yet another cable.

One of my favourite market stalls is the 'Ceramics Guy'. Because I seem to have an addiction to bright colours (also obvious with the beach glass I've been collecting) I nearly have to glue my hands into my pockets to keep from buying everything ceramics guy sells -- beautiful, handmade Spanish pottery. Last March, I bought a small version of this jug as a 'thank you' to my friend Anna for taking care of the my cat, the late (not tardy) Bumper, while we were away. This trip, we picked up a larger version for ourselves that serves as the perfect decanter for a €2.20 bottle of wine (don't judge).

Pretty ceramic jug

Cheap wine

We didn't have much of a shopping list this visit so I took the time to look more closely at the stuff being sold and less for a particular electronics cable. Of the estimated 120 or so vendors, maybe 40% (Ceramics Guy included) are selling items that are brand new. That leaves 60% of the vendors selling used, garage sale-esque items, some of which is the holy bounty of absolute crap. 

While it's been said that one man's trash is another man's treasure, in my wildest dreams, I can't imagine that any of the items pictured below could be considered anyone's idea of treasure. Though I could see them being buried in an unmapped location.

Behold, a small sampling of Sabinillas Sunday market crap:

This playful bear wants to spend its life on its back in your living room. Make a two-for offer and they'll throw in the domineering Thai elephant.

I like to think that the guy in this print never told his friends he posed for this. I also like to think that one of them will see it at the Sabinillas market and never let him live it down.

What would Spain be without its bull? And of course, the matador. Thankfully more and more people here are recognizing the cruelty of bull-fighting, but such traditions are hard to break in a country that puts the image of the black bull on everything. Imagine these museum-worthy paintings hanging in a special place on your walls.

Whoever painted this must have either really hated his mother because that is not a flattering image of her in the background.

'Don't look now Matador Michael Jackson, but there is an angry bull coming up behind you!!'