Acapulco Readies for Long Weekend

(Acapulco, NA 18 March) The traffic police have announced that the beach side of the Costera will be off limits for parking during this long weekend so that traffic will flow better and tourists will have better access to available services. Only pick-ups and drop-offs will be permitted. The prohibition will go into effect from 8 am to midnight on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The idea is to erase the anarchy that usually prevails on the Costera during long weekends. Part of the problem, however, is that some of the business owners along the Costera are also government officials or relatives of them, and they permit their friends to park out front, instructing the police not to enforce the no-parking laws. This creates the double and triple parking that so often plugs up the Condesa area of the Costera. The head of the traffic police, Miguel Ángel Hernández Albarrán, said that all business owners have been informed of the enforcement plan, and have been asked not to interfere with the goal of keeping the main coastal avenue running smoothly.

Separately, the newly appointed director of public streets, José Luis Flores Vinalay, has started the long-awaited clearing out of street vendors that clog the main thoroughfares in the center of town. The objective is to reclaim the public spaces that have been commandeered by “informal” businesses. The first phase was to have city employees go through the streets, checking business permits and handing out tickets to any who could not produce one. Tables and chairs blocking the sidewalks and gutters were physically removed. The merchandise was taken to a city warehouse, where it will be returned to owners who pay the fines imposed by the tickets. Twelve junked vehicles were tagged with a 24-hour towing notice. City police accompanied the officials as they made their rounds, serving as bodyguards.