Mercado de Abastos de Caravaca
Tucked into a handsome early-20th-century building in the heart of the old town, Caravaca's covered market is where locals actually shop — and where you'll find the freshest produce from the surrounding Río Argos valley without a tourist price tag in sight.
What to Buy
The stalls are stacked with pimentón de Murcia (smoked paprika), locally cured embutidos, fresh goat's cheese from nearby farms, and seasonal fruit including the prized paraguayo peaches grown in the Altiplano. The vegetable section is a painter's palette of aubergines, peppers and tomatoes.
Look out for artisan honey labelled 'miel de romero' — rosemary honey harvested from the wild scrublands of the Sierra de la Puerta — and small-batch olive oil pressed in the villages just outside town. Both make excellent, lightweight souvenirs.
Best Time to Visit
Saturday mornings are the liveliest, when farmers from the surrounding comarca bring in produce they've harvested that morning. Arrive before 10:00 to get the best selection and to watch the easy-going banter between stallholders and their regulars.
The market also has a small bar counter inside where you can grab a café con leche and a tostada con tomate for under €2 — possibly the best-value breakfast in the city.
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