This Is Not a Market

This Is Not a Market

16 August 2026

You often hear people shout, “This is not a market,” when they want to disapprove of the behaviour of a group. Markets do not have a particularly positive image. For days now, a discussion about the renovation and reopening of the market has been hanging over the market. The market has never been held in particularly high regard, and unfortunately, neither have the people who earn their living there or the customers who shop there. They are often dismissed as fish-wives and market folk. Some even believe that the biblical phrase – “You have made my Father’s house into a marketplace” – passes nega-tive judgment on the market itself. But the fact remains that the mar-ket belongs to the people; it is a place that is pure and authentic.

What is happening now is therefore quite remarkable. The market was badly in need of restoration. Initially, this was supposed to cost 4 million, but the final figure rose to 6 million. Such budget overruns happen more often, and not only here.

But what is truly remarkable is that the market no longer seems destined to be a market for the people, but for tourists. The narrative I hear more and more often is that everything revolves around the visi-tor from abroad. What people apparently fail to understand – just as they did with our beaches – is that tourists actually want to experi-ence the authentic life of the local population. They are not looking for concrete and glass designed specifically to suit their presumed tastes.

Of course, a market may be modernized. But modernization should make the market better for the people to whom it belongs, rather than turn it into a tourist attraction. It is striking that the market and its vendors were held in low regard for years, but that millions are now being invested once the place is expected to become attrac-tive to tourists.

It is therefore hardly surprising that tensions with the market ven-dors are already emerging. I fear that this will mark the end of the market as we know it, just as we are seeing happen with more and more of our beaches.

A market without market vendors, without local customers and without the noise and bustle that belong to a market may look beauti-ful. But it is no longer a market.

This is not a market.

Miguel Goede