The Portales Area is known to most Mexico City residents for the giant tianguis of used furniture and antiques. This is centered around the Mercado Portales in the very north of the neighborhood. It's not entirely high-end. So Portales is often the source of true treasures and one-of-a-kind items. It's also a great place to eat.
International visitors, though there will be few, visit for the streets lined with merchants and the commercial areas. The very name "portales," comes from the old Hacienda. But today it refers to the arch-lined covered walkways outside of prominent buildings. The name itself implies something of the atmosphere of the street market.
Portales is formally some four colonias in the very southeast of the Benito Juaréz alcaldía. It's bordered on the east by the Calzada de Tlalpan. To the north is the original settlement of San Simón Ticumac. To the west is another of the ten original settlements in Benito Juaréz, in Santa Cruz Atoyac. To the very south is the important Churubusco Area, long the haunt of movie studio officials and the stars of the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema. Today, it's home to the giant National Center for the Arts.
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