The New Madrid

The New Culture

LAIDBACK SURF ROCK echoes around a vast iron-framed train shed, once part of the Delicias station near the centre of Madrid. The music, a cover of Nancy Sinatra’s These boots are made for walkin’ by local band Pauline & The Big Kahunas, mingles with the sounds of curio hunters discussing their finds. Beside vintage trains from the city’s railway museum, hundreds of stalls dot the platforms, selling everything from cheese and bread to intricate diorama dollhouses. This is Mercado de Motores, Madrid’s hippest fleamarket.

First held in 2012, it has boomed, and now attracts around 50,000 people a month, creating not only a new shopping culture for Madrid but also opportunities for designers. Itziar Aristrain was a journalist before starting Pichí Pichá, which sells pinafores. “You find things here you can’t find anywhere else. I had the idea for this shop, and six months later