Mercado El Fontán
Tucked beneath the arcaded porticoes of Plaza El Fontán, Oviedo's oldest covered market has traded since the 18th century and remains the beating heart of the city's food culture. Come on a Saturday morning and you will find the entire city here, basket in hand.
What to Buy & Taste
The stalls overflow with Asturian pantry essentials: pungent wheels of Cabrales and Gamonéu cheese wrapped in foil, strings of chorizo cured in local cider, jars of wild honey from mountain hives and baskets of faba beans — the fat, buttery legume essential to fabada asturiana.
Fresh seafood arrives daily from the Cantabrian coast: look for percebes (goose barnacles), nécoras (velvet crabs) and glistening lomos of bonito that local cooks will turn into marmita that evening. The fishmongers are extraordinarily proud and will describe each catch in enthusiastic detail.
The Surrounding Arcades & Sidrerías
The porticoed square outside El Fontán doubles as an antiques and flea market every Sunday, where dealers spread out vintage Asturian pottery, old postcards and the occasional genuine piece of folk silverware among the bric-a-brac.
After shopping, duck into any of the sidrerías ringing the square for an escanciado — the theatrical Asturian ritual of pouring cider from arm's length so it aerates into a wide glass. It is perfectly acceptable to do this before noon.
More of Oviedo
Discover where to stay, what to do and the best deals for your trip.
Explore Oviedo →
