5 Best Shopping in Lavapies, Madrid

On Sunday morning, Calle de la Ribera de Curtidores is closed to traffic and jammed with outdoor booths selling everything under the sun. Find everything from antique furniture to rare vinyl of flamenco music and keychains emblazoned with "CNT," Spain's old anarchist trade union. Practice your Spanish by bargaining with vendors over paintings, heraldic iron gates, new and used clothes, and even hashish pipes. Plaza del General Vara del Rey has some of El Rastro's best antiques, and the streets beyond—Calles de Mira el Río Alta and Mira el Río Baja—boast all sorts of miscellany. The market shuts down shortly after 2 pm, in time for a street party to start in the area known as La Latina at and around the bar El Viajero in Plaza del Humilladero.

Off the Ribera are two galerías, courtyards with higher-quality higher-priced antiques shops.

These are not your grandma's embroideries! Yolanda Andrés's thought-provoking "paintings with thread" interpret the centuries-old technique through a modern-day lens—with stunning results. Beyond the framed artwork (don't miss the technicolor "Artichoke" line), there are embroidered pillowcases, totes, and more.

Buy (mostly Spanish) used books by the pound at this stall occupying a former casquería (offal shop).

This percussion shop and workshop—where Canarian Pedro Navarro crafts his own cajones flamencos, or flamenco box drums—is hard to find, but his pieces are greatly appreciated among professionals. Prices run €90–€220 and vary according to the quality of woods used.

Equal parts gallery, bookshop, and café, this art space sells works by contemporary names both Spanish and international, including Augustine Kofie, Olga de Dios, and David de la Mano. Less pricey purchases can be made in the bookshop, which sells curious 'zines and hard-to-find art anthologies.