English Podcast Lessons. At the Market

At the Market

At the Market

Una manera más ágil y cómoda de aprender inglés, a través de entrevistas a personas nativas sobre temas de actualidad.

Nos encontramos en el mercado de San Miguel con Lydia, que hace el papel de Directora del centro y nos cuenta todo sobre este proyecto y sus planes de futuro.

Good Morning and welcome to the English podcast lessons.

Today we are interviewing the Director of the new St. Michael´s Market in Madrid.

Hello Lydia, and thank you for being here with us.

Hello and welcome to our fabulous market.

This, is a wonderful place…

Yes it was renovated a few years ago although the structure is still the original 19 century one.

How did you get the idea of changing a traditional market into a popular place full of tapa bars and bakers?

We have left a few stalls for traditional things such as fish or meat and then we thought of making a place where people can meet each other, have a wine or a beer and try our famous tapas. It is working really well because the setting is so beautiful. The 19^th century metal structure is a work of art and there is so much light, it makes a comfortable place to meet friends.

I think that it must have been a risky idea because there are so many tapa bars in the centre of Madrid that it may not have worked. Did that worry you?

No, not at all. It was clear from the beginning that the setting was completely different from the traditional bar and that always attracts people.

The market was very old fashioned and bit scruffy, all it needed was renovating to become a meeting point for people. Our bars have very good chefs, who make all kind of delicious tapas and our bakers are absolutely wonderful. They make all kind of breads, buns and cakes imaginable.

As this market has been a complete success, have you considered exporting the idea to other provinces.

Yes, we were thinking of starting something similar in Galicia, Córdoba and Santander. The real problem is finding a suitable building but we will eventually. Paris, London, Prague and Vienna are also options because of the exceptional beauty of these cities.

Apart from being a meeting point for friends, do you have any other types of services?.

Yes, we have wine testing courses, concerts and also we rent the building for commercial presentations and in general we are open to all kind of ideas. We also have literary debates.

We are open from 10 in the morning until 12 o´clock at night, except Thursday, Friday and Saturday, when we are open until 2 o´clock in the morning. You can get your traditional shopping, have a delicious meal, or a snack in between these times.

It is the only market with a metallic structure that exists today in Madrid.

Thank you for being with us today, we don´t want to take up more of your time. We wish you all the luck in the world with this project.

Thank you.

Pepi, por favor, pon un vinito y unas tapas a estas amigas que vienen conmigo.

Marchando!