"Battle of the merchants" in Mérida likely to intensify with holiday season at hand

Mérida, like so many other Mexican cities, is a place of bustling street commerce. Ambulantes, as they're called here -- traveling merchants and vendors of everything under the sun -- cruise the city's historic plaza, and several blocks in each direction, from early morning until well after midnight. They have no other means of survival, and for most this is a lifetime occupation, frequently passed down to the next generation. In a state where 48% of the population lives below the country's official poverty line, and where many people never acquire more than a primary school education, there are no other career alternatives.

I've visited with more than a few ambulantes since I've been in Mérida. One, who sells little wooden fans and other trinkets, told me he is 45 and has worked on the street since he was 15. He acquired "the business" from his father. He works seven days a week, 364 days a year, because he must support himself, his wife and several children on whatever he can sell (invariably to passing tourists). Christmas is the only day he takes off. Others, who peddle hammocks and hats and Cuban-made (allegedly) cigars, tell similar stories. All have been impacted by the significant downturn in business since the worldwide recession began in 2008. Despite what city and state officials here say publicly, and in the face of some rather controversial efforts to jump start the local economy (such as last summer's "free" Shakira concert, which cost the city $2 million USD), things haven't even begun to turn around yet, and business remains stagnant. Any ambulante will tell you so.

In addition to the traveling vendors, there are many temporary or mobile sidewalk retailers in downtown Mérida, who sell merchandise and prepared food. More locals than tourists consume the food products, but clothing, jewelry and endless recuerdos (souvenirs) are generally sold to travelers from afar, for obvious reasons. Tension has been brewing for a long time in the city between street merchants of this type and conventional retailers, who operate traditional stores and restaurants. It's all about too many merchants competing for too few pesos (most of them converted from dollars and euros). Not infrequently, an itinerant seller will snare a tourist on the sidewalk, right in front of a store offering the same or similar products, before the customer can walk in the front door. Since Mérida retailers pay very high rents for downtown space, they're more than a little displeased with the competition.

Some weeks ago the city government officially kicked out the ambulantes from the central historical district (http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/crushed-by-poverty-yucatan-style-crime.html). But traditional retailers and business owners say they haven't gone away. I have little doubt that it's true based upon my own observations, and it doesn't surprise me, because as a practical matter the itinerants have nowhere else to go. Today, with the onset of the holiday season at hand, some fixed location merchants delivered the city government an ultimatum. They say that unless the ambulantes are removed from the streets "within hours," they're going to move their own wares and showcases right on to the sidewalks in front of their establishments, so they can compete more effectively with the mobile vendors. That would exacerbate existing congestion in the downtown area, and further impede pedestrian traffic, but one local trade organization claims that it's members' sales are off by 30% due to fierce competition from the street.

Officials say they'll increase vigilance and take action against violators, but claim that citing the ambulantes accomplishes little, since most pay the nominal fine and quickly return to the streets. It looks to be less than a season of joy and holiday goodwill for retailers in Mérida - a 2011 World City of Peace.

The crime of not letting someone work: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/crushed-by-poverty-yucatan-style-crime.html.
Tourism way down throughout Mexico: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/11/mexico-reports-major-decline-in-tourism.html.
Shakira wows Mérida: http://mexicogulfreporter-supplement.blogspot.com/2011/11/shakira-wows-170000-fans-in-la-plancha.html.
A $21 million peso ticket - and for what?: http://mexicogulfreporter-supplement.blogspot.com/2011/11/shakira-21-million-peso-ticket.html.