Merida, Yucatan — The city’s main mercados are too important to close, municipal officials have concluded.
Given coronavirus concerns that have already killed off nightlife and shopping, officials had considered closing San Benito and Lucas de Gálvez markets on Calle 54, below the Plaza Grande.
More than 2,000 market stalls normally crowd the facility, although more than half appear closed during the pandemic.
Locals from the San Benito market said that the site is an important supply center, and closing it would cause severe damage to customers. They told a reporter that rumors of a closure cost them a 50% loss in sales.
“The market is the main supply center for the population.” said Erick Pacheco, a vendor in the San Benito market. “Many people already come with their face masks, with their gloves, they buy quickly. I mean, it’s not an outburst sale and panic shopping, but people do come. It is leisurely. If you notice, people flow, they don’t stay.”
Source: ACOM
