The most characteristic market is Mercat dels Encants Barcelona - Fira de Bellcaire, one of the oldest in Europe. In 2013 it moved to a spectacular, newly-constructed building, designed by the architects at B 720 Fermín Vázquez, in the same area of Plaça de les Glòries. Business still goes on in the open air, and the most characteristic feature is the auctions that start at 7 am and are unique in Catalonia and Europe. It is not a food market, but you can buy almost anything here: clothes, furniture, antiques, domestic electrical appliances, cosmetics, toys, and books. Like the vendors' association says, there is "everything from a button to a cannon".

Another of the most popular sites is the Mercat Dominical de Sant Antoni.This is the biggest book, magazine, postcard, and videogame fair in the world. The outside of the historical building provides space for stalls selling not just old and second-hand books but also every type of magazine, comic books, old documents, drawings, minerals and medals and stamps.

There are several second-hand product fairs in Barcelona where every kind of used object can be bought and sold, which are in theory between fifty and hundred years old, such as the Mercat Gòtic held in Plaça Nova, next to the Cathedral.

Just like in many other European cities, the Catalan capital also has a good number of flea markets, which offer a new way to shop, based on exchange and recycling. One which is quite popular is Flea Market, a second-hand market held every second Sunday in the month in Plaça de Blanquerna. There you can find little treasures in the form of books, records, clothes, fashion accessories and so on. Its slogan removes any doubt about what it is: “One man’s garbage is another man’s gold”.