Abandoned wooden modules in the Municipal Market of Jocotepec each costing $7,500 pesos, Photo: Héctor Ruiz.

Héctor Ruiz Mejía (Jocotepec).- They threw in  the towel. The street merchants who were relocated to the upper floor of the Municipal Market of Jocotepec decided to abandon their stalls  after months of low  sales. 

Vendors interviewed by Laguna said  that after a little more than three months of «going through an odyssey» to receive some solution or support from the City Hall to cushion the difficult economic situation they suffered after being relocated, they have opted to move to other places to sell their merchandise.

«I actually had to look for a job. This  is over. We tried and fought, but we were left with no response and no support. So  I too, like everyone else, am  leaving,» commented one of the last vendors.

Semanario Laguna toured  the second floor of the building last Tuesday, April 26th , at noon and found that, despite the more than ten million pesos invested in a rehabilitation project that would «give life» to the commercial space, it was empty. 

Products such as cooked nopales, cambray onions, chopped and bagged vegetables, avocados and radishes, to mention a few, which not only  energized the streets and sidewalks of the town,  but were the livelihood of more than 30 families selling on Morelos Street on the outskirts of the market, are no longer for sale.

In addition to looking for another livelihood, some of the affected vendors opted to move to other parts of the town, and even decided to «try their luck» in the neighboring towns of Ajijic and Chapala to continue doing the only thing they know: selling products on the sidewalk, an activity they were no longer allowed to do in Jocotepec. 

«It is a shame that they are leaving, I always used to buy my nopalitos and vegetables here with the lady, but when they moved her, it was difficult for my mother and me to go up there; and now we will have to look for someone else,» commented one of the consumers.

Of the ten wooden vendor stands installed on the upper floor of the market to relocate the street merchants, costing approximately $7,500 pesos each, only two are now being used.

City Hall has remained tight-lipped about the situation.  After several meetings, negotiations and even a demonstration,  officials are aware of the monetary difficulties faced by the affected merchants from the beginning of the relocation, but has not issued any statement on the matter.

Translated by Patrick O’Heffernan