Introduction to the sector
The fish and seafood section of Mercabarna is made up of about a hundred companies which annually sell and distribute almost 210,000 tonnes of produce from the Central Fish Market and the ZAC.
Central Fish Market
The Central Fish Market opened at Mercabarna on the night of 3 to 4 October 1983, having moved from the old Central Market on carrer Wellington in Barcelona.
Within its precinct, which occupies around 24,000 m2, around 60 wholesale companies operate from 80 points of sale equipped with handling rooms, where they can perform the tasks of removing the entrails and scales, spaces thermally adapted for selling frozen goods and 12 distribution points (stockpiler stalls). The Market sells more than 70,000 tonnes of produce each year, some 81% of which is fresh.
Complementary Activities Zone
Located in the Mercabarna Complementary Activities Zone (ZAC) are around 30 companies from the fish and seafood sector that run businesses complementary to the Central Market:
- Companies specialising in the handling, preparation, packaging and distribution of all types of fresh and frozen fish and seafood; seafood hatcheries and cookers, exporters, etc.
- The purchasing centres of the large food distribution companies source their fish and seafood at Mercabarna.
- Companies that specialise in supplying the catering industry.
Market opening times
Hours of operation
Tuesday to Saturday 10 pm to 8 am
Unloading times
Tuesday to Saturday 10 pm to 3.45 am
Loading times
Tuesday to Saturday 3.45 am to 8 am
Business associations
Central Fish Market Wholesalers Business Association (GMP)
- Chairman: Ángel Máñez
- Manager: Jordi Pan
- Lawyer and deputy manager: Josep M. Duran
- Address: Mercado Central del Pescado. 1ª planta, puente A. Transversal 2, núm. 18
- Telephone: 93 336 37 11
- Fax: 93 263 07 92
- Email: gremi(ELIMINAR)@gmpbcn.com
- Web: www.gmpbcn.com
Central Fish Market Stockpilers' Association
- Chairman: Eugeni Videla
- Address: C/Transvesal 9, P-A 19-20, Edifici Unifrisa.
- Telephone: 93 262 69 40
Fishmongers' Association of Catalonia
- Chairman: Àlex Goñi
- Vice-chairman: Joan Cos
- Address: Mercado Central del Pescado. Ground floor
- Telephone: 933 236 412
- Email: gremi(ELIMINAR)@gremipeixaters.cat
- Web: www.gremipeixaters.cat
Children's campaign
'Grow Up With Fish' is an educational programme run by the Fish Wholesalers' Business Association, with the collaboration of Mercabarna. The aim is to introduce children to the world of fish and seafood and promote their benefits as part of a balanced diet.
The schoolchildren who take part, around 6,000 each year, spend a day at Mercabarna and engage in different activities. The main one is the guided visit to the Interactive Fish Centre (IFC), a unique exhibition space in Spain that shows the path that fish and shellfish take from the sea until they are served at the table in homes and restaurants. The children also visit the Central Fish Market, a seafood hatchery and a company that prepares fish, and tuck into a lunch based on produce from the sea.
Contact
- Jordi Defez Manager of the Central Fish Market
- Telephone: 93 556 32 32 / 93 556 30 00
- Fax: 93 556 31 20
- Email: defez(ELIMINAR)@mercabarna.cat