El Rastro

[3] According to municipal rules, the Rastro takes place every Sunday and on official public holidays, from 9 am to 3 pm, in the barrio de Embajadores (Ambassador's neighborhood) in the Central District of Madrid.

It is also accessible from the commuter train network (Cercanías Renfe) from the following stop: According to the German writer Hans Magnus Enzensberger, el Rastro is the final border between Europe and Africa, comprising diverse peoples from different countries and of differing ethnicities all searching for curiosities or bargains, sightseeing, sampling the gastronomic delights of Madrid or simply soaking up the atmosphere.

The crowds usually begin to thin around midday, as people head for the bars at the edges of the market and around La Plaza de Cascorro for a drink and some tapas.

The writer and journalist Pedro de Répide Gallegos wrote a novel called Del Rastro a Maravillas.

In the Hombres G song, "Indiana", David Summers mentions "Voy al Rastro a cambiar los cromos de tu colección del álbum...".