Hugely popular craft market in Alicante is being forced to close this year with no new site agreed

TRADERS have demanded with an urgent meeting with Alicante City Council after being told that they will have to stop selling on the city’s Esplanade from October 31.

Merchants association president, Wilton Damus, says talks are needed to try to find an alternative location from November.

He added that lawyers have been consulted over possibly taking legal action.

Appeals against the removal of the stalls have been made but rejected by Alicante City Council.

The iconic market opened in 1979 on the Esplanade but trading will stop which according to the council, will ‘recover the area for the enjoyment and recreation of Alicante residents and visitors’.

The Esplanade is the city’s most popular walkway, almost 600 metres long and runs parallel to the port, from Plaza Puerta del Mar to the Parque de Canalejas.

Tourist guides have described it as a ‘great place to stop and shop’.

The authority says it wants to create an authentic market in an area which would not be in any ‘direct competition with nearby businesses’.