Stroll through a bustling market taking note of the ingredients and then join a chef who will show you how to prepare paella from scratch, an iconic dish that will be your lunch. The items at the Central Market are locally sourced, so they truly represent the ingredients found in the regional cuisine. After meandering through the stalls, interacting with the vendors and sampling some of the delicacies, you will walk to a nearby restaurant for a paella workshop. The chef will show you step by step how to prepare authentic paella Alicante-style. You will have seen many of the ingredients in the market, which will make the preparation all the more relevant. Although the city of Valencia just to the north is known as the birthplace of paella, the version made in Alicante is much the same. Feel free to ask questions as the chef prepares the meal, which you will dine on afterwards.

Browse one of the most vibrant markets in Alicante, where you will see an array of fruits, vegetables and seafood that will likely be ingredients on the tapas that you will enjoy later. After walking from the pier, you will soon arrive at the Central Market, a magnificent modernist-inspired building that holds nearly 300 stalls of every imaginable gastronomic offering. Almost all of the products are locally sourced, so they truly represent the ingredients found in the regional cuisine. Garden-fresh produce, seafood on ice, exotic spices, fragrant herbs—they are all here in perhaps Alicante’s most popular market place.

After meandering through the stalls, interacting with the vendors and sampling some of the delicacies, you will begin a tapas tour. These small-plate snacks will reflect the local cuisine and contain the absolute freshest, seasonal ingredients. Many of the offerings may be unexpected, as Alicante has become a foodie paradise and has attracted inventive chefs from throughout Europe. Because of Alicante’s prime location on the Mediterranean, tapas with seafood such as tuna belly and succulent red prawns are enormously popular.