Chapala’s weekly tianguis (street market), known as La Barata, will be moving from its usual location to a temporary venue on Avenida Gozález Gallo in the vicinity of the Cristiania Park.
According to Juan Carlos Sánchez Soledad, City Hall’s Director de Mercados, the change will take effect as of Monday, June 24, continuing for a period of approximately six weeks.
The reason for relocating around 220 merchants and their stalls is that Calle Álvaro Obregón, where most vendors have been hawking diverse merchandise for more than three decades, is undergoing major renovations that got under way early this week. The project involves digging up a 450-meter length of the street for the installation of new water and sewage mains with connections to 115 addresses. The roadway will be resurfaced with a solid concrete strip running down its center to facilitate pedestrian passage and traditional cobblestones set on either extreme.
The provisional space for La Barata will stretch along the east side of González Gallo from a point just south of the intersection with Calle Morelos to the block beyond the park, ending near the IMSS clinic. Merchants do business during customary hours, from set-up time at 6 a.m. until the 3 p.m. break-down. The street’s south-bound land will reportedly remain open for through traffic.