Central de Abasto, Mexico City, Wholesale market in Iztapalapa, Mexico City, Mexico

Central de Abasto is a wholesale market in Iztapalapa that covers a huge area filled with stalls and businesses buying and selling fresh produce and goods. The space is organized into different sections, each focused on specific product types to help people find what they need.

The wholesale trade that La Merced had concentrated since the early 20th century outgrew the historic center by the 1970s. Authorities moved it to chinampa farmland in Iztapalapa, where construction of Abraham Zabludovsky's hexagonal complex began in March 1981; President José López Portillo inaugurated it on 22 November 1982. La Merced stayed open as a retail market, and in the 1980s traders were given incentives to relocate to the new halls.

Inside the market, look for the diableros, loaders who push two-wheeled carts called diablos, and the cart girls, who haul soft drinks, coffee, tea and bread in supermarket carts. Many bodega owners rent out part or all of their stalls, so wholesale and retail trade side by side. The trust also finances small agricultural producers so they can reach the main markets.

The complex sits on 328 hectares in Iztapalapa, with entrances and exits at opposite ends of a hexagonal layout measuring 2,250 meters across; the yellow canopy marks the main access lanes. More than 52,000 vehicles of all sizes move through daily, so allow time for truck traffic. The fruit and vegetable area, with 1,881 warehouses, is the largest section, followed by the grocery area with 338.

The site was built on the last remaining pre-Hispanic chinampas of Iztapalapa, artificial farmland plots near the old lakeshore. Its construction erased that agricultural tradition from this part of the city. Look for the loaders called "diableros", who haul goods on carts known as "diablos".