Sabores de Fantasia de Maria José

Bancas: 73-74-88-89

Maria José has been at Mercado do Bolhão for 50 years.

The story of this saleswoman in the market begins when her aunt/godmother — also called Maria José, and who already worked here — needed someone to help her in her stall. As Maria José's sister had not found the work amusing, she had to come herself and lend a helping hand to her godmother, who sold fresh flowers and dried flowers. At that time, Maria José was only 12 years old, but the great pleasure she derived from being in the market meant that she never left again. Meanwhile, when Maria José was almost 20 years old, her godmother transferred the stall into her name, so that she would take over the management of the business, at that time, of artificial flowers.

Maria José remains in the market until today and keeps in her heart many stories of the busy life in Bolhão. One of them related to when she was raising her son Daniel, when he was still a little child: Daniel, whenever he peacefully slept in his carrycot, he was placed by his mother, Maria José, in a closet she had inside the stall. When he would wake up, he would start looking around, and the customers, who found the situation very amusing, would exclaim "look, there's the closet boy." Maria José and Daniel still smile when the oldest, most loyal customers recognize what was known as "the closet boy."