The first newly registered street vendors given permission to sell merchandize in the Guadalajara city center settled into their new spots this week.
The 57 vendors may offer items from a list that includes typical candies, botanas, religious items and souvenirs. They will lose their licenses if they are caught selling merchandize not on the list or contraband goods.
In total, city hall intends to give 158 vendors permission to work in the downtown zone. To obtain licenses they had to prove their longevity as street vendors. Anyone who participated in anti-city government protests late last year was excluded from the register.
The vendors will pay a quota of 20 pesos per day.
Two-thirds of the vendors will be obliged to remain in designated spaces on Pedro Moreno, Ocampo, Pedro Loza, Ramón Corona, José María Mercado, Morelos, Galeana and in the Plaza Tapatia.
The remainder will be provided with themed bicycles or mobile carts, and be permitted to move around within a specific area. Nine vendors will be allowed to work on foot.
Two months prior to the Christmas holiday, Mayor Enrique Alfaro cleared the city center of all vendors, canceling any agreements made with previous administrations.
City hall has promised to relocate some 100 indigenous artisans who traditionally sold their handcrafts in the pedestrian walkway connecting the Plaza de la Liberation and Plaza Tapatio. A special area is being created for them.