Mercado Ramón Corona

Photos courtesy of the Mercado Ramón Corona Facebook page. 

The Mercado Ramón Corona is the neighborhood market for the important and historical Colonia Industrial in Gustavo A. Madero. One of the oldest markets in this part of the city, the market had a long history as the Mercado Industrial even well before the boom in public market building in the 1950s. As the neighborhood took off in the 1920s, the market did too.

Today, the residential architecture in the surrounding streets should leave no doubt that it was an early 20th-century middle-class community. The streets are nearly all, famously, named for businesses from the first decades of the previous century. Many of these companies have long been forgotten. They add a rather haunting lyricism to the neighborhood’s slow but sure comeback.

• Ramón Corona (1837-1889) was a distinguished military general and later a diplomat. He served under the Liberal forces against the French Intervention. With the triumph of Benito Juárez forces in 1867, Ramón Corona returned to Guadalajara. There he confronted an army of ex-Maximiliano Loyalists in a battle that left some 3,000 dead. Defeating them and sparing Guadalajara from certain plunder, he was known as the “Hero de la Mojonera” after the site of the bloody battle. He later moved to Spain where he served as a diplomatic Minister for the Mexican government for some 12 years. He died of multiple stab wounds upon his return to Mexico in 1889.

A 2017 UAM study counted some 455 merchants within the market proper. As the centerpiece of a busy central shopping district, many more merchants will crowd onto surrounding sidewalks. But international visitors should look out for the market’s multiple sit-down restaurants. Lunch at the Mercado Ramón Corona is a must if you’re nearby. Food is constantly fresh and prices are way below those you’ll see on plastic and flat screen-TV menus. And don’t forget you’re also supporting independent and small businesses while eating way better than you might on the street.

Getting There

Metro stations Potrero and Deportivo 18 de Marzo are each about a 15-minute walk away on Insurgentes Norte. (In truth, Potrero is a little closer.) Metro La Villa-Basilica on Metro Line 6  is likewise about a 15-minute walk.