The Santa Cruz City Council has announced the cessation of the municipal flea market from its current site, adjacent to the Nuestra Señora de África Market. Consequently, from this Sunday onwards, the commercial activities of this market will no longer take place in its customary location.
This declaration was made today by the Councillor for Public Services, Carlos Tarife, who explained that the closure was necessitated by “the unfavourable reports we have received, both from the company managing the Rastro and overseeing the Self-Protection Plan, as well as from the unfavourable assessments from the Local Police regarding the irregularities occurring in this area, which render its continuation in the present location untenable.”
Tarife emphasised that the decision to suspend the Rastro has already been communicated to the management of the municipal market, asserting that “as of this weekend, the activity will come to a halt.” Although the Rastro was not scheduled to occur on the 17th due to a marathon event in the capital, the City Council has opted to expedite its closure to this weekend.
The mayor explained that efforts will be made to ensure that the Rastro can reopen at a new location as swiftly as possible, specifically where it was situated during the pandemic, on the esplanade of Marítima Avenue, directly below the Treasury Delegation area. “The intention is to have it reopened in this new venue either on the last weekend of November or at the beginning of December,” he stated.
The aim of this relocation “is to attempt to rectify certain issues that have arisen and to establish better oversight of vendors and vehicle access in this vicinity, as we cannot continue permitting individuals without a municipal licence to sell. To occupy a stall, they must possess the required permit, which must be displayed at the designated location,” pointed out Tarife.
Furthermore, the councillor noted that the proposed change of location “will enable us to avoid situations akin to the current ones, whereby vehicles are accessing pedestrian areas to load and unload merchandise illegally, among other concerns. Thus, the objective is to restore the flea market in the shortest timeframe possible, yet in an alternative location that affords us improved access control, as well as oversight of those engaging in trading, given that regulations specify that only individuals with licences—currently totalling 412—are permitted to sell.”
