Русский 
Español 
Shopping is an important part of human life. One cannot live without buying things: food, shoes, clothes, toys etc. Just together with the necessity to buy something, two important challengers appear – to find the place with the best things we need and with the best correlation – price/quality.
Options
To begin with, one needs to know – what exists. What shops, goods and prices are offered in the sphere of commerce? Information about some of the most typical places for shopping will be adduced here. We would like to mention the most popular commercial establishments.
The Central Market
The first one to be spoken about is the Central Market place. It is the embodiment of the spirit of Valencia commerce. This Market is the biggest and one of the oldest among European grocery markets. In spite of the fact that the Market abounds in buyers, sellers and Market workers, it is well organized and clean. The facade of the building looks at the Placa Del Mercat and is surrounded with lots of small fish and seafood restaurants. The restaurants are not expensive and dishes are of excellent quality. The best correlation – price/quality? That is exactly what we mean.
It must be mentioned, that the Placa Del Mercat has been the most popular sales outlet since the medieval centuries. The situation had became critical by the beginnings of the XIX-th century, when the ancient commercial rows did not correspond the needs of the having been developed city. In 1839 the government decided to construct the first Market building. In 1928 a new complex in the modernist style for commercial activity, was inaugurated. Alfonso the XIII visited the ceremony.
Two commercial zones: fish and fruit ones, compose the Market. In the roof of the fish zone there is a weather vane in the form of a fish, and the fruit zone is decorated with the weather vane in the form of a parrot. It is still called Сotorra del mercat (market parrot), as a symbol of market gossips.
Any food products can be bought here: fresh meat, various meat products, diverse types of cheese, verdure, mushrooms, olives, lots and lots of types of species. Big quantities of ham are soled; because this is one of the typical and favourite Spanish dishes. You will find fruit, nuts, berries. Plenty of types of fish and seafood are presented in the Market: lobsters, crabs, prawns of different size etc. Spanish delicacies and wines are also presented here.
Modern outlets
Talking about Valencia shopping, we cannot avoid mentioning such outlets as: Nuevo centro, El Saler, El Corte Inglés. Anyhow, before starting the description, it would be useful to say some words about discounts and sales. Here we also apply the principle of price/quality correlation. There exist two types of shopping, directly based upon the principle. They are annual season sales and discounts and all year round sales and discounts in specialized shops.
Well, then Nuevo centro, El Saler, El Corte Ingles. El Nuevo Centro consists of 250 shops, a supermarket, restaurants and coffee shops, facilities for children.
El Saler is a modern outlet for good shopping and rest in Valencia. This commerce centre has three floors. The ground floor contains lots of shops, some coffee shops. The first floor is represented by shops, tourist agencies and a large supermarket “Carrefour”. The second floor is a zone of cinemas, coffee shops and restaurants, a recreation zone.
El Corte Inglés is a big department store. It is situated in the centre of the city. The Spanish Corte Inglés is the forth in Europe among such commercial establishments. El Corte Inglés in Valencia offers perfumery, cosmetics and household appliances. Lots of boutiques sell designer clothes. In El Corte Inglés one will find a large supermarket, various coffee shops, facilities for children and other things.
One has to see Spain, Valencia, has to smell its fresh sea or mountain breathe, taste its food, buy its leather, silk and ceramic products. Come to Spain, come to Valencia. See, taste, buy!
