The Mercado de la Ribera is located in Bilbao on the right side of the Nervión, next to the old part. It is the biggest indoor market in Europe with 10.000m2. The inside is organized by the type of products that are sold, there are three different floors. On the ground floor we can find fish shops, pickles, and shellfish. On the first floor there are butcher shops, delicatessen, canned food, bakeries and a bar. Finally on the second floor there are fruit and vegetables, mushrooms, florist and seeds.
In the XIV century the market area of Bilbao was established in the Old square, next to San Antón church. In 1840 they started to cover the market due to the meteorological inclemencies, and in 1870 it was finished. Although the groceries were protected from the rain, this enclosure had a problem with the temperature concentration. An irrigation system was installed in the roof to lower the temperature.
In 1928 a reform was made to make the market bigger and, as a result, there were more grocery stores. In 1983 it suffered serious damage due to the floods that destroyed Bizakaia and its capital. Its reconstruction was used to carry out a reform modernizing the installations.
In 1990 the "Mercado de la Ribera” entered the Guinness Book as the most complete Municipal Market of Supplies and it is considered the largest market in terms of number of shopkeepers and stalls.