The Save the Rastro Platform has called for a gathering this Sunday on the Avenida Marítima in Santa Cruz de Tenerife to demand the return of the market stalls to the vicinity of the Mercado Nuestra Señora de África.
A group of vendors and residents has gathered since 10:00 hours in the parking areas of the Avenida Marítima in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The Save the Rastro Platform, established just four months ago, aims to showcase the discontent over the forced relocation of the Sunday stalls to this provisional location.
The discontent with municipal promises
The spokesperson for the platform, Marcos Brito, claims they feel deceived by the councillor for Public Services, Carlos Tarife. The governing group decided to remove the stalls from the Recova citing reports from the Local Police regarding security issues.
The vendors were relocated to the Avenida Marítima with the commitment to install tents for shade, toilets, and a mobile bar. However, bureaucracy has delayed the project, and the platform denounces that the promises have not been fulfilled.
Of the 410 stalls that the market once had, only just over two hundred are currently set up each Sunday. Brito warns that summer is approaching and immediate solutions are needed to prevent the market from languishing.
Division among the vendors
Not all merchants support the protest. Carmen Tejera, a long-time leader of the vendors' association, distances herself from the platform and asserts that the market is in a good moment. She also warns that the pedestrianization works around the Mercado will prevent a short-term return.
Tejera fears that pressures could lead vendors to have to register as self-employed and obtain insurance, which would increase the costs of an activity that barely generates significant income.
On the other hand, the platform encourages residents to defend the previous location. They trust that reason will prevail and that the Santa Cruz market can be saved, a tradition they consider part of the city's heritage.
For the residents of Santa Cruz, the situation is a headache: the market on the Avenida Marítima lacks shade and basic services, and the uncertainty about its future clouds the Sundays of many regular shoppers. The platform hopes that today's demonstration will be the first step towards recovering the essence of the market in the Recova.
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