Burning vacant building in the center of Braga

Braga gained a new centrality. A new ‘Praça’ resulting from the full requalification of the Braga Municipal Market and which opened its doors this Saturday. With an investment of 6 million euros, to which are added 500 thousand in equipment, the City Council thus fulfills one of the projects that it considered a priority for the city.

Safer and more comfortable, with better technical and logistical infrastructures for merchants who carry out their activity in the market and adapt to new requirements, making it more functional, attractive and with new capabilities ”. This is how the municipality describes the new space.

“From the first hour, we bet on improving Braga. The intervention to which the Market was subjected managed to enhance a space used by thousands of Braga residents, providing better conditions for merchants from a perspective of modernity, hygiene and safety, compatible with the current demands of a city like Braga ”, said Ricardo. Rio, president of Câmaral de Braga, during the inauguration of the team.

According to the mayor, this was also a strategic investment for the urban regeneration of the city of Braga, which resulted in a unique and transformative project for the entire surrounding area.

“We re-established the intrinsic relationship between the city and the market, we improved the functional conditions, we restructured the circulation of automobiles and the road network around the equipment, in order to benefit the logistics and mobility of the users. In short, we transformed an insufficient structure that was not very adapted to our daily life, to make room for a square suitable for modern life, reusing all its potential as an indispensable space in the life of the city ”, added Ricardo Rio.

Completely remodeled space with new features

The new ‘Praça’ continues to serve the purpose of the Municipal Market, but has been modernized to meet current health, safety and hygiene requirements and current business dynamics.

The facility has four bakeries, 15 butcher shops (two of them double), four spaces dedicated to sausages, countertops for fishmongers, 215 square meters reserved for producers, 12 indoor stores and two outdoor stores selling differentiated products, food kiosks, a restaurant with an autonomous kitchen, a technical area for butchers and shops equipped with freezers, changing rooms and bathrooms, as well as four multipurpose rooms for training, workshops, show-cooking and product presentation and a warehouse to leave purchases and collect them later.

“We wanted to bring new strengths to the market, to improve the team and attract new audiences. We take into account the changes in consumer buying habits, which forced us to adapt the functioning of the traditional market to the new needs of demand, not only to retain customers, but also to attract new segments of the population, ”said Olga Pereira, councilor. with the responsibility of managing municipal equipment.

The councilor also recalled that the Municipal Executive not only invested in the requalification of the Plaza building, “but also in the maintenance of all commercial activity through the provisional market, which allowed operators and purchasing habits in the Market Municipal did not become extinct ”. .

In terms of organization of space and distribution of uses, the ‘Praça’ is completely covered and comprises the entire commercial area accessible to the public. The East wing is dedicated to the new use of catering and the trade of gourmet products, while the South wing continues to have its 0 floor dedicated to butchers, the lower floor being used for logistic loading and unloading purposes and a floor was created Superior with four multipurpose rooms.

The West wing maintains its use as a butcher shop on the ground floor and a fish shop on the ground floor, reorganizing with the minimum possible changes to the remaining ground floor and creating an access tunnel to the plaza for loading and unloading.