The Thursday market has been and continues to be a fundamental part of the life of Granollers and has played a vital role in its development. The city's perfect location, as we have mentioned, makes it a meeting point, suitable for all types of business transactions. A logical consequence of the market's central role in the development of the city has been the increasing importance of trade and commerce. The market was a base from where Granollers' subsequent flourishing commercial life grew. The development of the town in mediaeval times was closely linked to the market business, first documented in 1040, and which has continued without a break up to today. The importance of the market can be seen in the names of many of the squares where this weekly event takes place, all within the old city walls. Names like Oli (Oil) and Cabrits (kid goat) Square, which are still in existence and others such as Bestiar (Livestock), Gra (Grain) and Porc (Pig) Square, gone but not forgotten. These streets and squares have been the setting for this hectic Thursday event that on a weekly basis both paralyses and motivates the whole town.
Resistance to the slightest change in the location of the market, even when considered absolutely necessary, has been a source of much controversy and open opposition.  In July 1872, the part of the market dealing with grains and potatoes was moved to Llibertat Square, now called Corona Square, having already changed its location a number of times, once on 2 November 1869 by plebiscite (although it quickly returned to its old site in front of la Porxada).
In August 1930, a group of neighbours asked the council to move the livestock market to Verdaguer Square, with a view to decongesting and making better use of the centre of the city. The request was accepted and agreed at a plenary session held on 21 January 1931. Much to the surprise of the council however, the decision did not go down well with citizens. A large number of traders involved in varied business and commercial activities related to the market absolutely rejected the decision, to the point of threatening to hold the market on private property. If the argument in favour of the decision was logical and easy to understand, the case against it was also strong, given that it would involve a serious financial loss that would affect the council, which would no longer receive the market taxes. It was finally decided not to enforce the agreement.
A few years later, in mid-1934, the same idea was suggested for the Station Park, this time it was the Guild Association that objected, despite the fact that the project had been considered as no more than a possibility. Little by little however what at first had seemed a minor grievance became an undeniable necessity. Health and hygiene questions made it advisable to move the livestock market to a quieter part of the city. By the end of the 1940s, it had been moved to Barangé Square and later it would be held in Agustí Vinyamata Street. The controversy over its location would eventually end when this part of the market lost all importance and livestock was no longer traded. Cattle dealers, a typical figure at this time, gradually disappeared from the scene. Deals were no longer made on the spot but negotiated directly with the slaughterhouses, which took on the tasks of distribution and marketing. It was now the huge centralised markets that fixed the prices. Personal contact was nothing more than a memory of times gone by.
The cattle and pig markets were closed down in 1967. As agriculture and livestock became marginal, small business and soci ety were industrialised, and the Thursday market changed its character. It did not disappear but was converted into a large city market offering a wide range of different products. The presence of poultry between Santa Elisabet Street and Corró Street and the presence of a huge number of farmers from the region around Fonda Europa are the last vestiges from the past. The motivation of these people might not be the same as in past times, but the necessity to mingle and exchange information makes them all return to this same meeting point, week after week.
The Thursday market is diversified and is held in various streets and squares around the centre of the city every Thursday of the year. When Thursday falls on a public or local festival it is held on the Wednesday before.
Location:
The market is held in the following streets: Sant Josep, Sant Jaume, Rec, Sant Roc, Santa Anna, Anselm Clavé, Santa Esperança. Squares: Església, Caserna, Oli, Cabrits, Porxada, Folch i Torras, Manuel Montaña, Olles, Maluquer and Perpinyà.
The weekly market consists of approximately 450 stalls that occupy about 2,200 lineal metres.
Only in the case of fruit and vegetables, which are located  in Perpinyà Square and Sant Josep Street respectively, and live poultry (Maluquer Square), is the location of the stalls determined by sector.
All the spaces in the market are taken and there are rarely vacancies for new stallholders. When there is a vacancy, it is normally claimed by a relative or descendent of the licence holder as stipulated in the regulations.
The weekly market at Can Bassa has about 24 stalls and a surface area of 132 lineal metres.