Chapala Lakefront Vendors

I found this interesting article in the Guad Reporter. I wonder if some of them will come over to Ajijic.

After years of haggling among themselves and two months of negotiations, local street vendors have caved in to city government pressure to bring order out of the commercial chaos that has long dominated Chapala’s waterfront tourist zone. Police officers haul away one of five fractious vendors who were detained after tempers rose during the obligatory reorganization of Chapala’s waterfront commercial zone.
Local authorities, backed by a platoon of policemen in riot gear, arrived on site at 7 a.m. Saturday, October 2 to supervise the relocation of more than 120 makeshift stalls known as “quitapones.” The process lasted all day and sparked some tense moments, including verbal confrontations that landed five individuals in the slammer for a couple of hours.

The term quitapon derives from the Spanish words quitar (take away) and poner (put), referring to the concept of portable stands intended for use during the town’s weekend and holiday tourist trading. But many vendors twisted the idea, setting up structures helter-skelter throughout the green area, allowing them to do business at their own convenience.

Controversy over the size and allocation of spaces in the commercial zone has brewed ever since the city built permanent stalls in 2006 in order to move all merchants off the boardwalk strip by the town pier. At that time, vendors resisted relocation, arguing that the new area was too far from the waterfront to draw customers and that the modules were too few and too small accommodate everyone and all their merchandise.

Those worries proved to be unfounded. The steady recuperation of the lake and the renovation of the waterfront strip prompted a tourism boom that has kept business brisk ever since.

Dozens of merchants who originally refused to move off the waterfront lost out on the opportunity to occupy one the permanent modules. The city government finally forcibly evicted those who dug in their heels. Most were eventually granted spaces for quitapones. But the episode left the merchants deeply divided, leading to the emergence of numerous cliques that have never managed to see eye to eye.

Meanwhile, political interests at play meant city hall officials were cautious about taking firm action. Last year, the government installed a string of plexi-glass domes and concrete platforms to provide comfortable and uniform shelter for the quitapones outside the park area. Vendors balked at the downsizing plan.

With informal commerce spreading like a cancer, the current city administration decided to step in more energetically. Earlier in the year, officials in charge of the public markets and regulations pushed back against vendors who were spilling over to the edge of the Malecon. They also ran off people from outside the community who were elbowing in on the locals.

The park bordering the eastern section of Chapala’s Malecon appears serene following the removal of the dozens of vendor stalls that previously dotted the landscape.
Still, after a series of meetings in the mayor’s office, little progress was made in convincing merchants to work in harmony and tidy up the appearance of the area. The mayor and his staff finally issued an August 30 deadline for merchants to sort out their differences and organize a revamp of the zone.

Despite the efforts of several vendors to derail the talks, diverse issues were finally hashed out and the assignment of quitapon spaces was mapped out.

On September 27, the city council validated the pact by a narrow majority vote. With that, regulations director Antonio Mendoza and public markets chief Humberto Miranda lined up a team of inspectors and police backup to implement the relocation early Saturday morning when vendors arrived to set up for weekend business.

The timing took many of them by surprise. Leaders who refused to buy into the new arrangement protested the action, pleading for a postponement. The authorities refused, pointing out that nearly a month had already passed since the August 30 deadline. As a few tempers flared, several merchants began shouting insulting remarks, some directed at the police. They were promptly hauled away from the scene to cool off in the holding cells at police headquarters. All were released by the end of the day.

Quitapon vendors are now peacefully settling into their assigned spots. At press time, more than half had fully completed the process by signing licensing contracts with the city.

City officials and most merchants are trying to settle pending disputes over the fixed modules and launch a comprehensive overhaul of the commercial zone to make it more functional and attractive. Work crews are already finishing off adjacent recreational areas and sprucing up the badly deteriorated green areas.

Residents and visitors are now free to stroll through expansive grounds and relish open vistas afforded by the liberation of the waterfront park.