The weekly market in Cadaqués is held every Monday, holidays included, in the Riera de Sant Vicenç and Zona B of the Pàrquing Saba. Stalls are set up between 6:00 and 8:30 and packed away from 14:00, so it is complete between 8:30 and 14:00.
Cadaqués has a market once a week, and it is on Monday. That comes from the town ordinance on non-sedentary trading, which sets the day, the place and the hours with a precision no tourist leaflet bothers with. This guide covers what that text says: where the stalls go, what time to turn up, the rules food stalls follow, why you cannot move your car out of the riera that day, and how long there have been written rules. What the ordinance does not say, this guide does not make up either.
Monday, in the Riera de Sant Vicenç
The ordinance on the municipal non-sedentary market of the Ajuntament de Cadaqués is clear in its article 2: the market is held on Monday, every week, and it goes ahead even when Monday is a public holiday. Its area is the Riera de Sant Vicenç and Zona B of the Pàrquing Saba.
The town’s 2026 fees ordinance simply calls it the «mercat periòdic dels dilluns»: the periodic Monday market. It is the only weekly market in the town’s ordinances, so if someone in Cadaqués mentions «the market», this is the one.
What time to go
The official hours run from 6:00 to 15:30, but that window includes setting up and packing away. Under the ordinance, stalls are set up between 6:00 and 8:30; from 14:00 traders may start taking them down, and by 15:30 everything must be gone.
For a visitor, that means the market is complete between 8:30 and 14:00. Earlier you will find vans unloading; later, stalls half packed. For fruit and vegetables at your own pace, early is best; for a stroll, any time in the morning works.
One detail worth knowing if you drive: during that window no vehicle may enter or leave the market area, except those of the Policía Local and the emergency services. Leave your car there on Sunday night and you will not get it out on Monday morning. The guide on where to park in Cadaqués covers the alternatives.
What is sold and how to read each stall
The ordinance does not publish a fixed list of goods: the Ajuntament sets the maximum number of stalls and can reserve shares by speciality so that the offer stays varied. Each trader displays a badge showing the name of the market, the licence number, the stall’s position and size in metres, the holder’s name and the specific goods the licence covers.
Food stalls follow strict rules: refrigeration to keep the produce, screens or display cases protecting food from the public (fruit and vegetable stalls are exempt from that last one), specific conditions for meat and animal products, and a visible price on everything. The scales must be visible from the customer’s side, with nothing hiding the weight or the amount.
There is a nice touch in article 7: shops inside the market area can ask permission to put out a stall in front of their own premises on market day. So on Monday it is not only traders from elsewhere; the town’s own shops come out into the street too.
A small space, carefully shared
Cadaqués is short of space, and the ordinance says so plainly: «given the scarcity of public land», nobody may hold more than one stall. The central aisle should, wherever possible, keep at least 3 metres clear so an ambulance can get through, and there must be a gap of at least 0.5 metres between stalls.
Nor may anyone use a building’s façade as a prop or block residents’ doorways or shop entrances. Taking up that space has a price: the 2026 fees ordinance sets a charge of 61.02 euros per linear metre per year for Monday market stalls.
And a practical curiosity: each stallholder may take up to a month’s holiday, notifying the Ajuntament. If one Monday you miss last week’s stall, it has probably not closed; it is on holiday.
How long there have been written rules
The current rules are the 2022 ordinance, signed on 30 November that year. It replaced the market regulation approved by the town council on 14 September 2015 and published in the provincial gazette, BOP no. 190, on 1 October 2015. The change was required by the Generalitat’s Decret 162/2015 and by Llei 18/2017 on trade, services and fairs.
When the market was first held is not stated in the ordinance or on the town website, so no date is given here. The same ordinance lets the mayor’s office add days or hours for tourism or special dates, and lets the Ajuntament move the market or suspend it in the general interest. If your visit hinges on the market, check with the Ajuntament first.
A whole Monday in town
The market fits neatly with two other morning habits. The first is the harbour: the Cadaqués fish auction is the other place where the town genuinely buys and sells, and its guide explains how to watch without getting in the way. The second is breakfast: the Pastisseria Quer has its own story, also told separately.
With that, Monday stops being the day you cannot park in the riera and becomes the day you best see the town that lives here all year round.
Checked
Day, place, hours, stall rules, stallholders’ holidays and regulatory history: the ordinance on the municipal non-sedentary market of Cadaqués (2022), on the Ajuntament de Cadaqués website, checked in October 2026. Fee per linear metre: fees ordinance no. 16 of the Ajuntament de Cadaqués for 2026, checked in October 2026.
Quick questions
What day is market day in Cadaqués?
Monday, every week, even when Monday is a public holiday.
Where does the Monday market set up?
In the Riera de Sant Vicenç and Zona B of the Pàrquing Saba, according to the town ordinance.
Can I drive my car out of the riera on Monday morning?
No: between 6:00 and 15:30 no vehicle may enter or leave the market area, except the Policía Local and the emergency services.