Bolhão Market is officially reopened
The bell started ringing again at 8am in the renovated centenary market, which was, this Thursday, returned to the city.
The sound of the bell is heard but, given the number of people waiting for this moment, it was almost unnecessary to tell you. The whole city already knows: the doors of Bolhão Market are open again. Starting today, what has always been done in Bolhão will be done again: tradition.
"I didn't think I would live to see the market open". With a few tears of emotion hard to contain, Aurora Silva not only lived but also came from Custóias to Porto on purpose for the opening of Bolhão.
From today onwards, the stalls of the Market walk through streets with names that could well describe this homecoming: Longing, Joy, Encounter, Embraces. The inviting question "Frutinha, amor?" can already be heard in Frutaria do Bolhão, and Rosinha Florista has already received the usual visit from D. Custódia.
Amongst those who come from afar "to see with their own eyes because they couldn't believe it", those who share "this positive energy that you feel here", those who were "born and raised" by these stalls, hundreds of people are back in Bolhão. There are the Irmãs Araújo, Dona Ilda, Cantinho da Dona Rosa, Peixaria da Sara or Queijaria do Bolhão and André Amolador, old and new merchants.
The people and the traditional cries came back: "Bolhão is beautiful!", "Bolhão is ours", some with more decorum than others. And many messages of thanks were heard throughout the morning.
Who also confesses a "difficult emotion to contain" is the Mayor of Porto, after taking over the ringing of the bell at the Bolhão Market. "This is the day that we wanted, that the whole city wanted," said Rui Moreira.
After years of selling in a place without the best conditions, promises that did not advance, plus the time - four years - that it took until the work was completed, the Mayor of Porto confesses that "fulfilling it is a feeling of 'it was worth it'".
Rui Moreira believes that, "deep down, it's giving people back the Market. It is the moment for the city of Porto to reunite with Bolhão, with itself". "The city today gives to itself that which is its heart. This is Bolhão. We had only seen the patrimonial part. Now I want to see it with people. The Bolhão without people makes no sense, it's not a museum", stressed the mayor.
Although he recognizes "the economic impact for the city", since the shopkeepers will have in the renovated building "much better conditions", Rui Moreira is convinced that "there are things we don't buy".
"It is our soul that is here", he stressed, leaving a message to the city: "now what we need is for people to come and shop here. Now is the time for the city to support Bolhão".
Future tenders for six shops and nine stalls
Besides the fresh products in the stalls on the ground floor, which as of today are sold in 79 spaces, the Bolhão has 38 shops that embrace the exterior of the building and that will soon be fully operational, as well as the ten restaurants that will be located on the first floor. In the next few months. New tenders will be launched for the occupation of six shops and nine stalls.
Opening hours will be between 8am and 8pm, Monday to Friday. On Saturdays, it will close at 6pm, and on Sundays, Bolhão will be closed for rest.
Once the restaurants are in operation, the restaurant hours will be until midnight, and access will be through the doors of Formosa and Fernandes Tomás streets.