City Cracks Down on Unlicensed Businesses

(Acapulco, IG 21 October) This week, teams of inspectors from Acapulco’s Public Roads Department (“Vía Pública” in Spanish) continued their attempts to require the informal street vendors in several different parts of the city to comply with the law. The director of this department, Juan Carlos Hernández Albarrán, announced the initiative to the press as a way of spreading the word that the inspectors are making this effort to ensure public safety and security for local shoppers.

Their activities will focus on the Sabana district, Coloso, Colosio, Zapata and streets around the Central Market. Director Hernández said, “In many cases the vendors do not respect the space reserved for vehicles, and also obstruct passage for pedestrians.” So far it has not been necessary to call upon the police to enforce the rules. In some cases the city employees have helped vendors relocate their merchandise to open up the streets and sidewalks for the purpose for which they were intended. The inspections are performed without prior notice. Even though most of the vendors will probably not obtain licenses, at least they will not block the way for the shoppers. Full legal compliance with the regulations is still a distant, and probably unattainable goal.