Review of supply markets
Introduction
Écija Supply Plaza, born in 1844 to centralize the supply trade of Écija (Seville) Spain, its construction took place in the heart of the city, on the site occupied by the old convent of the Company of Jesus. Promoted by the Development Society, a civil society established for this purpose, it came to alleviate the inconvenience and disruption caused to the city's neighborhood by the celebration of the traditional daily market in the Plaza Mayor.
The construction took place at the beginning of the Elizabethan period, at a time of relative political calm, and was one of the first urban planning actions undertaken in Écija during the century. Its objective was to create a modern, respectful urban environment where the supply of the population could be carried out in the best possible conditions of comfort and health; In this way, the old traveling market system that dated back to medieval times was overcome and abolished.
This new closed and controlled market model enabled municipal authorities to more effectively exercise their supervisory power, as well as the control of weights and measures and the collection of fees and taxes.
Background to the Plaza de Abastos and reason for being.
The Development Society, born in 1843 with the exclusive mission of building a supply plaza where the daily market that for centuries had been held in the Plaza Mayor could be hosted with dignity and hygiene.
Since the Middle Ages, the Plaza Mayor of Écija constituted the largest free lot existing inside the urban area of the city, in addition to serving as a prestigious political and economic axis, it was the headquarters of a daily food market. The specific location of marketing activities in this place facilitated the collection of taxes, the equitable distribution of imported items and the prevention of fraud, both in terms of weights and measures, and in the quality of the products.
During the century in the Plaza Mayor, and thanks to the daily assembly of stalls and portable stalls, bread, fruits, milk, vegetables and soap were sold, vinegar, wine and imported wheat were sold in the alhóndiga building located in the Plaza Mayor. Very close to it, on Caza Street were the fishmongers and the Royal butcher shops, built at the end of the aforementioned century to centralize supplies in the city. Some streets were the headquarters of other manufactures, Cintería, Odrería, Platería Especiería and Albardería.