The council of the capital city announced yesterday the discontinuation of the Santa Cruz Trail at its current site, adjacent to the Our Lady of Africa Market. Consequently, starting this Sunday, market activities will no longer take place in its traditional setting.
Today, numerous traders gathered outside the City Hall to express their discontent regarding this decision. Carmen Tejera, president of the Santa Cruz Rastro, remarked that this outcome effectively “leaves 412 families without employment in the midst of the Christmas season,” urging for a resolution.
A delegation of Rastro workers will convene this afternoon with José Manuel Bermúdez and Carlos Tarife to present their concerns.
Carlos Tarife defended the choice to close the Rastro by citing “the unfavourable reports we have received, from both the company responsible for the Rastro and the Self-Protection Plan, as well as negative assessments from the Local Police regarding the irregularities taking place in this area, which ultimately render its continuation at this location unfeasible.”
Tarife emphasised that the decision to halt the Rastro has already been communicated to the management of the municipal market, stating that “as of this weekend, activities will cease.” However, even though the Rastro was not scheduled to occur on the 17th due to the marathon in the capital, the City Council has opted to advance its closure to this weekend.
The mayor clarified that from now on “we will make efforts to ensure that, in the shortest possible timeframe, the Rastro can resume operations at a new site, specifically where it was during the pandemic, on the esplanade of Marítima Avenue, directly beneath the Treasury Delegation area. The intention is to reopen it at this location either on the last weekend of November or the start of December,” he stated.
The aim of this relocation “is to attempt to regularise certain situations that are currently occurring and to establish greater oversight of traders and vehicle access in this space, as we can no longer permit individuals without a municipal licence to sell. To occupy a position, they must possess the appropriate permit, which should be displayed at their designated location,” Tarife remarked.
Furthermore, the councilman added that the considered change of location “will enable us, for instance, to avoid situations like the present, where vehicles are driving into pedestrian zones to illegally load and unload merchandise. Consequently, the objective is to reinstate the flea market in the shortest timeframe possible, but at an alternative location that allows for better access management, in addition to controlling those who operate there, as regulations stipulate that only individuals with a licence—currently numbering 412—are permitted to sell.”
