City hall’s dilemma intensified at the end of last week when both groups staged demonstrations on consecutive days (Thursday and Friday) that brought downtown traffic to a halt for several hours.
Representatives of the street traders say many of the vendors have permits issued by past local administrations – some dating back 25 years – allowing them to sell goods in December of each year.
But market traders argue that the number of illegal “vendedores informales” has grown exponentially, particularly in the plaza facing the market and on adjacent Calle Obregon, where makeshift stallholders line the streets to flog contraband toys and other imported goods. They claim many of the permits are “fictitious” and were handed out over the years by corrupt city hall officials.
Ironically, although the San Juan de Dios traders are demanding that city ordinances be upheld, a large percentage of the toys and other items both they and the street vendors sell make their way into Mexico illegally from the Pacific Rim.
Representatives of the market traders believed they had won a significant victory last Thursday after Guadalajara city hall agreed to limit the number of vendors on the Avenida Javier Mina side of the market to just 50.
On the following two days, thanks to a bevy of inspectors and city officials on duty, the plaza facing the market was largely free of vendors for the first time in many weeks. But when inspectors took a day off on Sunday, the unlicensed traders returned in force to take advantage of weekend shoppers.
The streets vendors say they have no intention of taking up an offer from the municipal government to sell their products throughout the holiday season in the Plaza 18 de Marzo, situated some two kilometers further to the east on Avenida Javier Mina.