A tianguis is an open-air market, specifically a traveling market that pops up in a certain place for only one day of the week. The word is the same whether it is used in the singular or plural. This term is used exclusively in Mexico and Central America and not in other Spanish-speaking countries.
Origins of the Tianguis:
The word tianguis comes from Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs) «tianquiztli», which means market. It differs from a “market” in that the market has its own building and operates every day, while a flea market is installed on the street or in a park on one day of the week. In some areas, a flea market may be called a “market on wheels.”
The vendors arrive in the early hours of the morning and in no time prepare their tables and displays, a mosaic of canvases suspended over the ceiling protects from the sun and rain. Some vendors will simply lay out a blanket or mat on the floor with their items to sell, others have elaborate displays. A wide variety of products are sold in the flea markets, from produce and dry goods to livestock and mass-produced items. Some specialized flea markets will sell only a particular type of merchandise, for example, in Taxco there is a silver flea market every Saturday where only silver jewelry is sold.
The Tianguis are common throughout Mexico, both in rural and urban areas.
A variety of different items were used as currency in markets in ancient times, including cocoa beans, shells, and jade beads. Barter was also an important system of exchange, and still is today, particularly between providers. The tianguis is not only about economic transactions. Unlike when you buy in a supermarket, in the flea markets each purchase brings with it a social interaction. For people who live in rural areas, this is their main opportunity to socialize.
Tianguis Day
The term dia de tianguis means “market day.” In many areas of Mexico and Central America, it is customary to have rotating market days. Although generally, each community has its own market building where you can buy goods every day, the market day in each town will fall on a particular day of the week and that day there are stalls set up in the streets surrounding the market building and people come from the surrounding area to buy and sell on that particular day.
Markets in Mexico
The custom of rotating markets dates back to ancient times. When Hernán Cortés and the other conquerors arrived in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, they were amazed at how clean and well organized it was. Bernal Díaz del Castillo, one of Cortés’s men, wrote about everything they saw in his book, The True Story of the Conquest of New Spain. He described the vast markets of Tenochtitlán and the products offered there: produce, chocolate, textiles, precious metals, paper, tobacco, and more. It was precisely these extensive networks of exchange and communication that made the development of complex societies in Mesoamerica possible.
Learn more about Mesoamerican merchants.
