A1 Spanish Story: The Battle of San Miguel Market

The Battle of San Miguel Market (La Batalla del Mercadillo de San Miguel) is a free A1 Spanish family comedy. At a weekly Madrid street market, Carmen Moreno is sure the Ruiz brothers at the next stall are behind a complaint about her tomatoes, and her nephew Javier is caught in the middle. Chapters 1 and 2 are below.

Level: A1 (Beginner)
Genre: Family, Comedy
Free here: Chapters 1–2 of 6
Length: 340 words, about 3 minutes
Language: Spain Spanish

Tap or click an underlined word to see what it means.

Chapter 1 Los Tomates PodridosThe Rotten Tomatoes

Es sábado. En el Mercadillo de San Miguel, hace calor. Carmen Moreno está en su puesto de verduras. Javier, su sobrino, llega con cajas de tomates. Carmen ve los tomates. No son buenos. Carmen está furiosa.

Al lado está el puesto de Felipe y Ramón Ruiz. Los hermanos hablan y ríen. Carmen los mira con rabia. Llega una cliente. Es la señora López. Compra tomates en el puesto de Carmen. Pero después la señora López grita: "¡Estos tomates están malos! ¡Están podridos!" Carmen se sorprende. Javier se sorprende también.

Carmen corre al puesto de los Ruiz. Grita: "¡Vosotros! ¡Vosotros decís que mis tomates son malos! ¡Mentís!" Felipe y Ramón ríen. Ramón dice: "Doña Carmen, nosotros no decimos nada." Pero Carmen no los cree. Carmen siempre cree que los Ruiz son malos.

Javier abre una caja de tomates viejos. Encuentra un papel. En el papel hay un nombre. Es el nombre de...

Chapter 2 El Cliente MisteriosoThe Mystery Customer

Es el sábado siguiente, por la mañana. Javier organiza los tomates en el puesto. Todavía tiene el papel de la caja. En el papel está el nombre de su amigo Diego. Carmen habla con una cliente. La cliente dice: "Los tomates de ustedes son buenos. Muy buenos."

Javier está contento. Pero Carmen no está contenta. Carmen mira a Felipe y Ramón en el puesto de al lado. "Los Ruiz dicen mentiras", dice Carmen.

Javier va a un bar pequeño cerca del mercadillo. Busca a Diego. Diego está allí. Diego trabaja en otro mercado, muy lejos. Javier dice: "Hola, ¿cómo estás?"

Diego tiene una cara extraña. "Javier, tengo un problema", dice Diego. "Yo pagué a la señora López. Ella gritó que los tomates de Carmen están podridos. Es verdad. Tengo dinero de Felipe. Cien euros."

Javier no puede creerlo. "¿Qué? ¿Tú trabajas para los Ruiz?"

Diego dice: "Sí. Lo siento mucho. Pero Felipe me da dinero todos los meses. Yo necesito dinero para mi familia."

Javier no sabe qué hacer. Si Carmen sabe la verdad, Carmen mata a Diego. Y si Javier no dice nada, Carmen sigue odiando a los Ruiz.

De repente, el teléfono de Javier suena. Es Carmen.

"Javier, ¿dónde estás? Ramón Ruiz está aquí. Dice algo muy importante. ¡Ven rápido!"

Key words in chapters 1–2

Spanish	English	Chapter
puesto	stall (at a market)	1
verduras	vegetables	1
sobrino	nephew	1
furiosa	furious (of a woman)	1
al lado	next door, alongside	1
hermanos	brothers	1
rabia	rage, fury	1
podridos	rotten	1
se sorprende	is surprised (sorprenderse)	1
papel	piece of paper	1
mentiras	lies	2
cerca del mercadillo	near the street market	2
lejos	far away	2
lo siento	I'm sorry	2
todos los meses	every month	2
de repente	suddenly	2
ven rápido	come quickly (venir)	2

Check your understanding

What does Javier bring to the stall, and what is wrong with it?
Show answer
Boxes of tomatoes, and Carmen can see they are poor: "No son buenos. Carmen está furiosa."
What does Señora López shout after buying tomatoes?
Show answer
"¡Estos tomates están malos! ¡Están podridos!" Carmen and Javier are both surprised.
What do the Ruiz brothers say when Carmen accuses them?
Show answer
They laugh, and Ramón answers: "Doña Carmen, nosotros no decimos nada." Carmen doesn't believe them: "Pero Carmen no los cree."
What does Javier find at the end of chapter 1?
Show answer
A piece of paper inside a box of old tomatoes: "En el papel hay un nombre."
Why does Carmen phone Javier at the end of chapter 2?
Show answer
Ramón Ruiz has come to her stall: "Dice algo muy importante. ¡Ven rápido!"

Grammar to notice: whose tomatoes? Possessives and de

A feud between two stalls is all about what belongs to whom, so this story is full of possessives. Spanish puts mi, su and mis before the noun, and uses de + owner where English uses 's.

Carmen Moreno está en su puesto de verduras.

Carmen Moreno is at her vegetable stall.

Su = her. Puesto de verduras: de also links a thing to what it sells.

Javier, su sobrino, llega con cajas de tomates.

Javier, her nephew, arrives with boxes of tomatoes.

Su again, this time for a person.

Al lado está el puesto de Felipe y Ramón Ruiz.

Next door is Felipe and Ramón Ruiz's stall.

No 's in Spanish: the stall of Felipe and Ramón.

¡Vosotros decís que mis tomates son malos!

You lot say my tomatoes are bad!

Mis, because tomates is plural.

Yo necesito dinero para mi familia.

I need money for my family.

Mi with a singular noun (chapter 2).

De repente, el teléfono de Javier suena.

Suddenly, Javier's phone rings.

El teléfono de Javier = Javier's phone.

One trap: su can mean his, her, their or your (formal), so the sentence tells you who owns what. Notice also al puesto de los Ruiz: a + el becomes al, and a family surname stays singular after los.

Why it works at A1, and the Spanish of a street market

Chapter 1 is about 150 words and chapter 2 about 210, in short present-tense sentences with a lot of shouting, which keeps the dialogue simple: ¡Vosotros!, ¡Ven rápido! The cast is small (Carmen, Javier, the two Ruiz brothers and Javier's friend Diego) and names are repeated rather than replaced by pronouns.

A mercadillo is a street market, the kind that sets up stalls once a week. Carmen speaks Spain Spanish: when she turns on the brothers she uses vosotros (you, plural, informal) with the verb decís, a form you won't hear in Latin America, where ustedes covers every plural you. She is also addressed as Doña Carmen, a respectful title used with a first name.

Watch the difference between No son buenos (they're not good tomatoes) and Estos tomates están malos (these tomatoes have gone off): with food, estar malo means spoiled.

For another A1 comedy about a family under pressure, read The García Sisters.

Frequently asked questions

What level is The Battle of San Miguel Market?

A1, for beginners. The chapters are about 150 and 210 words long, in the present tense, with market vocabulary such as puesto, tomates and verduras that repeats from line to line.

How many chapters does it have?

Six. Chapters 1 and 2 are free here and in the Contos app; chapters 3–6 are part of Contos Premium.

What is a mercadillo?

A street market, usually held on a set day each week, with stalls (puestos) selling fruit, vegetables and much else. The diminutive -illo makes it smaller and more informal than a mercado.

Why does Carmen say vosotros?

Because the story is in Spain Spanish. Vosotros is the informal plural you, used with friends, family or, here, rivals. In Latin America people say ustedes instead.

The Battle of San Miguel Market: an A1 Spanish family comedy story

Chapter 1 Los Tomates PodridosThe Rotten Tomatoes

Chapter 2 El Cliente MisteriosoThe Mystery Customer

Key words in chapters 1–2

Check your understanding

Grammar to notice: whose tomatoes? Possessives and de

Why it works at A1, and the Spanish of a street market

Frequently asked questions

Find out what happens next

Chapter 1 Los Tomates PodridosThe Rotten Tomatoes

Chapter 2 El Cliente MisteriosoThe Mystery Customer

Key words in chapters 1–2

Check your understanding

Grammar to notice: whose tomatoes? Possessives and de

Why it works at A1, and the Spanish of a street market

Frequently asked questions

More A1 Spanish stories

More ways to learn Spanish

Find out what happens next