It smells of fruits and vegetables, nuts, cheese and spices, and of fresh fish. In the soft light of the Mediterranean, all these scents combine to create a velvety melange that makes you want to go shopping. Under palm trees and surrounded by enchanted buildings in the 19th century bourgeois style, with multi-faceted references to Moorish culture, the Mercado Atarazanas can be found: it is the largest and oldest market in Málaga.

With a soft crackle the red sweets clatter into a bowl, garlic and sausages hang from the ceiling, and in between, Natalia's face beams. The 26-year-old has been working at the market for a year and is currently busy preparing the market stall for the opening. For three generations now, the family of her employer has been selling its dried fruits, honey, sweets, nuts, wine, olive oil, vinegar and much more. The colourful market stand is located in one of the three sections of the market with an area of 5,000 square metres and 265 market stalls. Divided into fruit and vegetables, nuts, spices and pickles, fish and meat, the traders are lined up in rows and offer their produce. At eight o'clock in the morning the doors open. What happens up to this point looks like organised chaos, yet follows its own dramaturgy. Strong arms heave boxes and cartons from the trucks on the surrounding streets, the goods flow into the building on countless carts, and the individual participants glide past each other towards their destination as if in a secret choreography. The different boxes piled up in the aisles look like a skyline. Busy hands sort the products and make them into lovingly stacked architecture on the stalls. There is always time for a joke or a little chat among colleagues. "Of course we all know each other, we spend a lot of time together here. And do so nearly every day," laughs Natalia. It is not only a market that comes to life, but an almost magical place that connects locals, immigrants and tourists with Spanish culture.