[News] Crowding and rush in the Los Guandules market due to the curfew

[EvKirito]

An hour before curfew, the Los Guandules market looks crowded this Saturday with people in a hurry buying piled up, without queuing and chatting outside the recommended two-meter safety distance to prevent contagion by COVID-19.

If it were not for the masks, some placed under the nose, under the mouth and crooked, it could be said that it is a day like any other before the pandemic in the street market located on Francisco del Rosario Sánchez avenue in the Los Guandules neighborhood of the capital.

Vehicles move with difficulty and pedestrians can barely walk on the sidewalks while people buy food exposed to vehicle smoke.

The traffic jam and noise increases as the minutes pass and the curfew set at noon on weekends approaches.

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The stores remain open after eleven in the morning
The stores remain open after eleven in the morning (DIARIO LIBRE / MASSIEL BECO)
Pedestrians walk through the streets as sidewalks are occupied by street vendors
Pedestrians walk through the streets before the occupation of the sidewalks by street vendors (DIARIO LIBRE / MASSIEL BECO)
Informal stalls sell food outdoors
Informal stalls sell food outdoors (DIARIO LIBRE / MASSIEL BECO)
The stores remain open after eleven in the morning
The stores remain open after eleven in the morning (DIARIO LIBRE / MASSIEL BECO)
Pedestrians walk through the streets as sidewalks are occupied by street vendors
Pedestrians walk through the streets before the occupation of the sidewalks by street vendors (DIARIO LIBRE / MASSIEL BECO)
And does the curfew work?
Sellers in the area say that with these hours people crowd more because they have less time to buy. They do not trust that the situation will improve with the new curfew that allows mobility until three in the afternoon on weekends.

"The curfew only makes people gather more buying, but they keep coming as usual," says José Sepúlveda, owner of an informal food stall.

The regular customers of the market assure that the crowding in the streets is normal, but on Saturday mornings it is more complicated.

“The market today is unbearable. You are running because there is no money to pay a fine if you get caught in the street after twelve, ”says client Loranni Báez.

The little space to walk on the platform means that pedestrians have to jump into the street and risk between engines that come and go.

Half an hour before the curfew begins, most of the informal businesses continue their activity and the police presence was scarce.

Buyers do leave in a hurry, but not if they first greet someone they know or talk to sellers at the top of their lungs as usual, with or without a pandemic.