Street vendors outside Mérida’s busiest market have traded their sprawling setups for compact, matching stalls, and the sidewalks between the Plaza Grande and the Lucas de Gálvez market are easier to walk as a result.
City crews installed 30 standardized stalls on Calle 56 between Calles 65 and 65-A, the city announced Monday. Each unit measures 1.5 by 0.8 meters (about 5 by 2.6 feet). Some of the informal stalls they replaced stretched as long as 7 meters (23 feet).
The arrangement came after nearly six months of talks with vendors, said José Alfonso Lozano Poveda, technical secretary of the city’s Public Market Service. About 15 selling spots were eliminated and 30 vendors were relocated. Vendors can no longer stack crates or bulky goods beside or behind their displays.
Shop owners with storefronts along the route also pulled merchandise back inside to clear the walkways. Crews with pressure washers hauled away about 2 tons of accumulated trash.
“2026 is the year of order, and together we are working so that public spaces belong to everyone, so people can walk more safely and those who work in commerce have more dignified places to do their jobs,” said Mérida Mayor Cecilia Patrón Laviada. <h2>A Cleanup Months in the Making</h2>
Monday’s announcement is the latest phase of a campaign to reorganize Mérida’s historic center. In May, city workers cleared 45 semi-fixed stalls from nearby streets in a pre-dawn operation. They also collected 10 tons of trash, cut irregular electrical hookups and dismantled an illegal bathroom and storage room. The city said about 300 meters (nearly 1,000 feet) of sidewalk were recovered.
Lozano Poveda said city rules still allow street vending, but stalls must follow approved dimensions so pedestrians can get through. Next up is Calle 54, where talks with vendors have already started. Officials said that stretch will move slowly because it is crowded with bus stops.
Shoppers who suspect a vendor’s scale is off now have somewhere to turn. Mexico’s consumer-protection agency, Profeco, which handles complaints about weights and prices, has set up stations with official scales inside the market. Buyers can check their purchases there and file complaints on the spot.
The Lucas de Gálvez market is the main food market for Mérida and much of the state. More than 2,000 vendors sell produce, meat, seafood, spices, crafts and prepared food there, and together with the neighboring San Benito market it draws an estimated 100,000 shoppers a day. Last year, after months of delays, the market finally opened its long-awaited escalator to a second-floor dining area. <h2>Restoration Begins on the Portal de Granos</h2>
The city also began restoring the Portal de Granos, a historic arcade near the market. Built around 1783, it takes its name from the grain trade once carried out beneath its arches.
The work was approved by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, known as INAH. It includes minor patching, restoring the original finishes and coatings that let the stone breathe, and bringing back the building’s original features.
Crews are scheduled to work through October and November. The job falls to artisan craftsmen from the city’s Urban Development Department, a team that has worked on the historic center’s facade restoration program since 1996.
City officials have not said what the restoration will cost. They have also not said whether vendors or businesses under the arcade will be affected while work is underway.
Fast Facts
• Location: Calle 56 between Calles 65 and 65-A, Centro, Mérida
• New stall size: 1.5 by 0.8 meters (about 5 by 2.6 feet)
• Stalls standardized: 30
• Selling spots eliminated: about 15
• Next street in line: Calle 54
• Portal de Granos restoration: October and November 2026
• Market hours: open daily; most stalls are busiest in the morning
• Weight complaints: Profeco scale stations are inside the market
Sources: Diario de Yucatán, La Jornada Maya, El Universal, Mérida en la Historia, Yucatán Magazine