Mercado Central Area To Get A Facelift

The renovation of Valencia’s most popular tourist area, Mercado Central, will begin in May and will be completed 12 months later

Valencia slowly begins to address the impact of the huge economic crisis by trying to polish its streets, squares and attractions. In one of these moves, Sandra Gómez, Councilor for Urban Development, announced that the tender for the renovation of the Mercado Central area had finally been signed. The tender was won by the Valencian company Pavasal Empresa Constructora, which will soon start work on the renovation of two squares, Plaza del Mercado and Plaza del Ciudad de Brujas. The latter is definitely in need of serious reconstruction in the light of the state in which it is today.

Pavasal, a construction company from Valencia, has a 70-year history and has completed some of the most demanding construction projects in the city, such as Puente de las Flores and Puente Assut de l’Or. The company was also responsible for the construction of the car park on Avenida del Oeste near Mercado Central.

Pavasal Empresa Constructora has offered the best price and deadline for completion. Their offer, which amounted to almost €5 million plus VAT, was 30% cheaper than the next, and they promised to finish work more than three months in advance of their competition.

From the initial estimate that it would take 15 months to complete the work, a new deadline was set only one year after the start of the work. The project is expected to begin in May and to be completed by May 2022.

The general idea is to improve the urban landscape around Mercado Central, the Church of Santos Juanes and Lonja, which is currently the focal point for tourists arriving in Valencia.

The entire area will be pedestrianised and the work will be extended to the renovation of a few adjacent streets. The pavements will be changed and the area around Mercado Central will be paved with cobblestone, as it used to be, to enhance the sense of the true historical value of the area as a whole. A children’s playground will be built on Plaza Taula de Canvis, a presently unused dead-end space near Mercado Central, facing the Chinese supermarket.

Although the space in front of the Lonja de la Seda is going to get a facelift, there’s still no mention of what’s going to happen to Plaza del Doctor Colado in the back. One of the most important tourist spots in Valencia has yet to improve. Two years ago, it was discovered that two buildings in need of renovation had a wealth of archaeological finds, linked not only to Lonja, but to a much older period, dating back to the 11th century.

Work on the facades was promised to begin as soon as the archaeologists finished their part of the work, but since this profession usually deals with centuries, not years, there is little chance that anything will be done soon.

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