Mercado Municipal de Jaca
Tucked behind the main shopping street on Calle del Mercado, Jaca's covered municipal market is where local farmers, cheese-makers and butchers have traded since the 19th century. Come on a Friday morning and the stalls overflow with produce that tastes unmistakably of the mountains.
What to look for on the stalls
The Pyrenean larder is extraordinary and the market is your best access point. Look for Hecho valley cheese (queso del Valle de Hecho), a firm, slightly nutty sheep's milk cheese that pairs perfectly with local honey sold by the jar a few stalls along. Wild mushrooms — rovellons and ceps — appear in autumn in quantities that would make a Barcelona chef weep.
Cured meats from the Aragonese highlands include longaniza de Aragón, a paprika-spiced pork sausage, and chireta, a lamb offal sausage unique to this part of the Pyrenees. The butchers will vacuum-pack anything you want to carry home.
Rhythm of the market week
The market runs daily for basics, but Friday is the big day when farmers from surrounding valleys set up outdoor stalls on the adjacent plaza, turning the whole block into a lively weekly fair. Arrive before 10:00 to beat the locals and get first pick of seasonal vegetables and freshly laid eggs.
A small bar inside the market building opens early and serves coffee and freshly made tortilla de patatas to market-goers — one of the most authentic and inexpensive breakfasts in town.
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