Old Wholesale Fish Market

This would result in a two-storey structure with a harmonious combination of volumes. It was carefully designed by Joaquín Ortiz García, the municipal architect of Llanes. As well as with other significant improvements made to the seaport infrastructures in the 1930s, the work was overseen by the seaport's director engineer, José María Aguirre.

The wholesale fish market substituted a small building that, after its inauguration in 1917, had been used for the storage and auction of fish. This small building, whose surface was barely twenty-five square metres, was insufficiently equipped and had other technical and management problems that forced it to be replaced. Thus, the planning of the Ortiz fish market followed a rational design, aspiring to achieve maximum efficiency and the hygienic-sanitary needs required for the conservation of fish. The spacious interior of the wholesale fish market has a room for auction and storage. The galleries, organised vertically, were reserved for buyers, allowing them to see the merchandise and enter the auction. The auction hall was also equipped with scales, a cold storage, an ice-making machine and electronic equipment for monitoring.

The building, erected on the right bank of the estuary, next to the curve of the dock, rises on a concrete platform resting on reinforced concrete supports. As for its exterior, the façade composition alternates straight and curved lines, with a rooftop finish, rendering wall coverings painted in a rough grey tone. Different types of bays were introduced, including open oculi on the façade facing the sea.

Following the refurbishment of the building in 2015, the old wholesale fish market, now converted into a tourist office, fortunately remains as one of the most unique elements of the Llanes seaport heritage.

Natalia Tielve García