La Nueva Viga Market

La Nueva Viga Market is a giant seafood market in Mexico City’s Central del Abastos. For international visitors, it’s the premier seafood destination in the city. In fact, la Nueva Viga supplies just every other seafood restaurant and outlet in Mexico City.

In the world, the market is second in size only to the Toyosu Market in Tokyo. The market is also the historic heir to the original La Viga market, up the La Viga canal and much closer to the Centro Histórico. As the City expanded southward, the old location could no longer handle the volume, and it re-opened here in the mid-1990s.  Today, about 60% of all the seafood in Mexico passes through here. It’s especially important for Mexico City and the surrounding states of Hidalgo, Mexico, Tlaxcala, Puebla, and Morelos.

Even as trucks convert to electricity, their usefulness at moving tremendous quantities of fresh and frozen fish won’t diminish. And for visitors who brave the truck traffic, the rewards are tremendous. Inside and all along the market’s pedestrian thoroughfares, there is a tremendous variety of dealers preparing and selling fish. And just seeing the fish coming in, starting at 4 a.m. each morning is a sight to behold.

About 7,500 people work within the market. They sell about 300 fresh and frozen species. About 100 more types are imported and frozen. Every day, the volume is about 500 tons fresh and another 1,000 tons of frozen fish. Shrimp is said to the be most popular, and trout is a distant second. The market’s prepared food vendors ply tamales, cocktails, fish fillets, fish tacos and lots more.

This corner of the Central del Abastos is relatively easy to get around on foot. Most visitors on foot will enter either through the north or south entrances. By the time one gets to either entrance, a range of fish sellers will already have made themselves known. The vendors line sidewalks just about the entire way in.

Hours:  Monday through Saturday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Sundays.