The brand-new Mercat de Montserrat in Barcelona’s Nou Barris district is poised for its grand opening in March or April, but the celebration will be tempered by the sight of nearly twenty empty commercial spaces. A city-wide auction failed to attract any bidders for the new market’s vacant stalls and storage units, highlighting a persistent challenge for Barcelona’s traditional retail hubs.
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Construction on the modern facility, located on Via Favència, began in autumn 2022 after a two-year delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The building is set to replace the original market, which has served the Les Roquetes neighbourhood since 1960. While dozens of long-standing vendors will move from the old premises to the new, they will be joined by a significant number of empty units.
A City-Wide Challenge
The vacancies at Montserrat are part of a wider issue. In late 2025, the Municipal Institute of Markets of Barcelona (IMMB) put 127 empty spaces across the city up for auction. The list included 21 units at the yet-to-open Montserrat market: 19 newly built warehouses and two retail stalls. However, as reported by El Periódico, not a single bid was placed for any of the Montserrat properties.
The results, finalised in early February, revealed a stark lack of interest across the board. In total, 108 of the 127 offered spaces-62 stalls and 46 storage units-remain without tenants. This reflects a troubling trend, as a previous city auction also saw the vast majority of market stalls go unsold.
The situation has drawn criticism from the city council opposition. During a recent economy commission meeting, councillor Joan Ortega of Junts described the attempts to reactivate empty stalls as a “failure,” noting that “the calls to raise the shutters in the markets have not worked.”
Official Optimism
Despite the auction’s outcome, the IMMB remains hopeful. An official from the institute suggested the timing of the auction was to blame. “It’s possible that in November, the start of the new market was still seen as a bit far off in time,” they speculated.
Recent developments seem to support this theory. Since the auction closed, two individuals have come forward to express interest in the vacant fishmonger stall. This has prompted the IMMB to open a direct adjudication process, closing on 2 March, to award the 20-year concession, which has a starting price of €33,308. Officials valued the other vacant stall at €29,780.
“A priori, we would only have one non-active establishment,” the institute suggested, hinting that last-minute interest could lead to full retail occupancy at launch. Officials attribute this renewed interest to the approaching inauguration and the “very good activity” generated by the new Aldi supermarket, which has been operating within the market building since late January.
Addressing Vacant Warehouses
While a solution for the retail stalls seems possible, the 19 new warehouses remain unclaimed. The IMMB offered these units at prices ranging from €5,391 to €43,335. The IMMB now has a six-month window to award these spaces through direct negotiation.
The institute believes that once the market is operational, demand will naturally emerge. “It is very possible that when the market is in service, some merchants will see their sales level increase or have a need for a new warehouse and request its allocation,” an official stated, adding that this has happened in similar cases.
To ease the burden on existing vendors moving into the new building, the IMMB has assured them that the financial impact of the vacant units will be “small.” They explained that initial maintenance costs are low due to new installations being under warranty, and Aldi is contributing to the building’s operational expenses. The old market building is scheduled for partial demolition to make way for a new public square once the transfer is complete.
